Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA) and Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) rose Thursday after Chinese regulators approved Apple Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) mobile generative AI service, paving the way for Apple Intelligence to launch in the country.

Apple’s China AI Partners In Focus

Hong Kong-listed Alibaba shares were up about 4.76% at 118.80 HKD ($15.16), while Baidu gained nearly 3.91% at 111.70 HKD ($14.25) at the time of writing.

Alibaba’s Qwen large language model will power Apple Intelligence across Apple’s operating systems in China, while Baidu will support AI features on iPhones in the country, CNBC reported.

China requires generative AI services to undergo regulatory registration and content reviews before they can be released to the public, making the approval a key milestone for Apple’s AI rollout.

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Regulatory Approval Clears Key Hurdle

The approval comes nearly two years after Apple introduced Apple Intelligence globally and removes a major regulatory hurdle in one of the company’s largest overseas markets.

The Cyberspace Administration also approved AI services from Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo as part of the latest batch of registered mobile generative AI offerings.

Price Action: Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares climbed 4.78% to $117.69 on Wednesday and rose another 5.59% in extended trading, while Baidu advanced 1.59% to $111.48 before adding 0.56% after hours.

Benzinga edge rankings indicate BABA has a Momentum score in the 10th percentile and a Growth score in the 82nd percentile.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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