Alibaba Just Released New AI Models for Apple. Does That Make AAPL Stock a Buy?

For Apple (AAPL), artificial intelligence is the key to future-proofing its robust devices and services ecosystem. Yet in China, Apple’s second-largest market, the company’s AI ambitions have hit a wall. Between trade tensions, strict regulations, Beijing’s data-localization demands, fierce competition for device sales, Apple’s Intelligence suite remained locked out of the mainland.

Alibaba Group (BABA) has just handed Apple a potential key. Its Qwen3 AI models have been fine-tuned for Apple’s MLX framework, enabling them to run natively on iPhones, iPads, and Macs.