Alibaba and Baidu stock prices soar in Hong Kong after Apple AI partnership

Shares of Chinese technology giants Alibaba and Baidu rose on Thursday due to their partnership. apple To deploy AI tools.

Hong Kong listed stocks alibaba Shares rose 5% after the company confirmed that Qwen AI models will be integrated into Apple services in China.

Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares closed slightly higher overnight after an Alibaba spokesperson told CNBC that “Qwen will be integrated into the Apple Intelligence experience within iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Vision OS for users in China.”

BaiduHong Kong-listed shares rose 4% after the company confirmed it is working with Apple on Apple Intelligence features for iPhones in China.

The announcement came amid reports in late June that the company’s artificial intelligence chip unit Kunlun Xin was seeking an initial public offering in the city, potentially valuing its affiliates at $50 billion.

In a notice on Wednesday, the Cyberspace Administration of China included Apple Intelligence on its list of approved service providers, along with six other smartphone-based AI services, including Huawei Technologies.

The combination of Apple and Qwen will allow users to access the model’s capabilities “such as understanding and generating text and images without having to jump between tools,” the Alibaba spokesperson added.

Apple did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

The technological competition for AI superiority is intensifying between China and the United States. The United States is trying to limit China’s access to high-end chips, while the Chinese government is trying to cut off American investment in Chinese tech companies.

“AI leadership is becoming central to economic competitiveness, setting global standards, and sustaining democratic governance,” according to a report from research organization Randland.

—CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng, Joseph Wilkins and Kai Nicol-Schwarz contributed to this report.