Apple and Baidu’s Order: iPhone Users Are Worried

Apple and Baidu’s Order: iPhone Users Are Worried

Recently, there was a major news in the technology circle. Apple was originally in talks with Baidu to introduce the Wenxin Yiyan AI model into iOS18. Later, however, it turned to negotiate with Tencent and ByteDance and planned to integrate the artificial intelligence models of these two companies into iPhones sold in the Chinese market. The discussions are still in the early stages, and Tencent and ByteDance have not responded.

For Baidu, this change is a big blow. Baidu has been布局 in the field of large models for many years. It embarked on the AI exploration journey in 2010 and fully entered the field of artificial intelligence in 2013, continuously increasing investment. The Wenxin large model performs outstandingly in natural language understanding and generation. The Wenxin Yiyan ecosystem is developing rapidly, and its user share firmly ranks first in the Chinese generative AI market.

However, Baidu’s AI development is not all smooth sailing. Business monetization faces difficulties. Huge amounts of capital investment are required in all links of AI research and development. Its highly anticipated intelligent cloud, autonomous driving, and Xiaodu Technology businesses have all encountered development bottlenecks. The intelligent cloud business is fiercely competitive and faces problems such as difficulty in acquiring customers and slow expansion of market share. In the field of autonomous driving, it faces legal risks and technical stability issues. Xiaodu Technology faces problems such as serious product homogeneity and a single profit model.

In this context, Apple’s cooperation intention is of great strategic significance to Baidu. On the one hand, it can obtain considerable cash income and ease financial pressure. On the other hand, it can enhance brand image and expand the international market.

Although Baidu started early in the field of large models, competitors such as ByteDance and Tencent have risen rapidly, giving Apple more choices. The main reasons for the obstruction of Apple’s cooperation with Baidu lie in technical and privacy issues. The number of users of ByteDance’s Doubao is growing rapidly, thanks to advanced technology, a good user experience, and diverse marketing channels. Although Tencent’s AI large model started a bit late, it has huge potential relying on the WeChat ecosystem.

At present, the smartphone market is gradually becoming saturated, and AI technology has become the key. Manufacturers such as Huawei and Xiaomi have integrated large models into their mobile phone products. If the iPhone 16 Chinese version does not embed a large model in time, it will be at a disadvantage in the competition. Apple’s move has made the competition in the AI field among Baidu, ByteDance, and Tencent become extremely intense. The outcome of this game is full of变数 and will affect the future pattern and direction of the AI industry.