Apple Inc. announced through its official website early today that its smart features are set to undergo a significant update, with a notably expanded range of supported languages. The newly added languages include French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese, along with localized English versions for Singapore and India.

According to Daring Fireball, iPhone 15 Pro users are about to receive good news: Apple's Visual Intelligence feature will be available on the Pro series flagship models released in 2023. This means that there is one less reason for iPhone 15 Pro users to upgrade to the iPhone 16 series. Visual Intelligence is similar to Google's Google Lens and is part of Apple Intel.

Alibaba's stock has shown remarkable performance recently, continuously climbing and attracting widespread attention from investors. The well-known e-commerce giant released an unexpectedly positive financial report last week, exceeding market expectations and further solidifying its position in the industry. The company not only achieved revenue growth but also demonstrated strong profitability, showcasing its robust market competitiveness. Notably, Alibaba announced a partnership with Apple in the Chinese market to support AI services for the iPhone. This news undoubtedly boosted its stock price.

Apple has officially launched the long-awaited fourth-generation iPhone SE upgrade - the iPhone 16e. Unlike previous versions, this device no longer carries the 'SE' brand name and aligns directly with Apple's flagship series. The starting price for the new model is $599, with shipping expected to begin on February 28. A key highlight of the iPhone 16e is its incorporation of 'Apple Intelligence', a feature similar to OpenAI.

Today, Apple officially announced the new iPhone 16e, confirming its memory configuration. Reportedly, the iPhone 16e is equipped with 8GB of RAM, a specification that aligns with market expectations and meets the minimum requirements for Apple Intelligence features. This upgrade not only enhances the performance of the iPhone 16e but also provides users with a smoother experience.

On the technological stage, two giants, Apple and Meta, are quietly embarking on a competition for AI-driven humanoid robots. Despite their rivalry in certain areas, the intertwining of cooperation and competition may usher in a new chapter in technology. As a pioneer in consumer electronics, Apple's innovation capabilities in smart hardware are unquestionable. Recently, reports have revealed that Apple is heavily investing in artificial intelligence and robotics technology, aiming to develop a humanoid robot capable of interacting naturally with humans.

According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, Apple plans to integrate Apple Intelligence into the Vision Pro headset as early as April. This AI suite was initially set to launch in June 2024, and will be introduced through the visionOS 2.4 software update, which is expected to be available for developers this week. Just a few weeks after the initial release of Apple Intelligence in June 2024, Gurman reported that Apple is looking to expand its AI capabilities.

In order to achieve this goal, Apple will collaborate with Alibaba to develop AI features for iPhone users in China. Alibaba's co-founder and chairman, Jack Ma, responded to rumors of the collaboration with Apple at the World Governments Summit 2025 held in Dubai, UAE, stating that Apple needed a localized partner in China and ultimately chose to partner with Alibaba.

Today, at the World Governments Summit 2025 held in Dubai, UAE, Joe Tsai, co-founder and chairman of Alibaba, officially responded to recent rumors about Alibaba's collaboration with Apple. He revealed that Apple was looking for a partner in China that could provide localized support for its phone services. Throughout this process, Apple exhibited very high selection criteria and engaged in in-depth discussions with several Chinese companies. Ultimately, Alibaba stood out and became Apple's partner.

Recently, well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed that Apple is actively exploring the development of humanoid and non-humanoid robots, considering them an important part of the future smart home ecosystem. This news closely follows a research paper released by Apple that discusses the interaction between humans and 'non-anthropomorphized' robots, such as Pixar-style lamps. Although Apple's research is still in the early concept validation stage, Kuo noted that this study provides crucial technical references for future consumer robots. He predicts that mass production of Apple robots may occur.

Recent reports indicate that Alibaba will collaborate with Apple to develop new artificial intelligence features for iPhone users in the Chinese market. This initiative is seen as an important strategy for Apple to address declining sales in China, aiming to provide a more appealing software experience for users. Insiders reveal that Apple has been testing various AI models from well-known Chinese developers since 2023. After a series of evaluations, Apple partnered with Baidu last year, becoming its primary AI technology supplier.

According to informed sources, Apple is collaborating with Chinese tech giant Alibaba to develop AI features for iPhone users in China. This news marks a new development in Apple's partnership in the AI field within the Chinese market. Over the past few months, Apple has been actively assessing multiple potential partners, including Tencent, ByteDance, Alibaba, and DeepSeek, with the aim of creating AI features for the domestic iPhone model. After thorough consideration, Apple ultimately chose to partner with Alibaba.

A recent study released by Apple reveals that the company is developing a new framework called ELEGNT, aimed at enabling non-anthropomorphic robots to exhibit more natural and expressive movements, which could open new avenues for the future development of home robots. The research team used a robot modeled after the lamp character in Pixar's animation "Luxo Jr.", equipped with a 6-axis robotic arm and a head featuring lighting and projection capabilities. Through the ELEGNT framework, researchers have enabled the robot to not only perform functional tasks but also convey intent and emotion through its movements.

Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek recently released the open version of its inference model R1, which has quickly sparked discussions in the tech community. Its remarkable breakthrough achievements left venture capitalist Marc Andreessen in awe, describing it as 'one of the most astounding and impressive breakthroughs I've ever seen,' and it has demonstrated capabilities in AI benchmarking that rival or even surpass those of OpenAI's o1 model. Notably, DeepSeek claims that its model training cost is only $5.6 million, whereas leading U.S. companies require hundreds of millions.

Apple Inc. is accelerating its research and development in artificial intelligence (AI) to regain its leading position in the industry. To achieve this goal, Apple has made significant personnel adjustments, appointing veteran executive vice president Kim Vorrath to the artificial intelligence and machine learning department as the chief deputy to AI head John Giannandrea. Vorrath is known for his outstanding problem-solving abilities and experience in driving the success of major projects. This reassignment is seen as a key move for Apple to strengthen its AI team and reinvent its AI competitiveness.

Apple plans to automatically enable its artificial intelligence (AI) feature, Apple Intelligence, for eligible users in the upcoming updates for iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS 15.3. According to release notes discovered by 9to5Mac, both new users and those upgrading to the latest operating system will automatically experience the powerful capabilities of Apple Intelligence. Image source note: Image generated by AI.