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Apple confirmed at WWDC 2026 that its new Apple Intelligence features, including the rebuilt Siri AI powered by Google Gemini, will not be available in China, a significant market exclusion that reflects the ongoing regulatory and data sovereignty challenges facing AI companies operating in the country.

The confirmation arrives as Apple unveiled its most ambitious AI update in years, with Siri rebranded as Siri AI and a suite of new intelligent features rolling out across iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate this fall.

Siri AI: The full rebrand

Apple officially rebranded Siri as Siri AI, backed by Apple Intelligence and built on next-generation Apple Foundation Models in collaboration with Google Gemini. Apple VP Mike Rockwell described the update as a fundamental transformation. “Siri is now a profoundly more capable assistant that helps you find what you need and gets more done. It’s also more conversational, so you can go back and forth like never before and get detailed, engaging answers,” he said.

In a live demo, Rockwell asked Siri for directions to a landmark seen in an Instagram post, with Siri correctly identifying the location from the image and providing navigation, a demonstration of the new on-screen visual intelligence capability. Siri also comes with new and improved voices alongside the conversational upgrade.

A dedicated Siri app

Siri AI now has a standalone app, available across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The app allows users to revisit old conversations and results, functioning more like a persistent AI companion than a one-shot query interface. On Mac and iPad, users can ask Siri about images and text visible on the screen, bringing the visual intelligence capability to larger screen devices.

The AI password agent

One of the more practically useful new features is an AI agent built into the Passwords app. Apple said the Passwords app will use Apple Intelligence and Safari to agentically take action on the user’s behalf, visiting individual websites automatically to change and fix insecure passwords without requiring the user to navigate to each site manually. It is Apple’s clearest embrace yet of agentic AI, where the system acts independently in the background to complete tasks rather than waiting for moment-to-moment instruction.

Trust and Safety: Parental controls overhauled

Apple debuted a significant update to parental controls under a new Trust and Safety framework. Parents can access a digital setup assistant to determine which apps their children can access and for how long, with time allowances informed by paediatric research rather than arbitrary screen time limits. Children who want to visit certain websites must now request parental approval across iPhone, iPad, and Mac via Safari. Craig Federighi summarised the intent as giving parents powerful and easy-to-use tools to manage what children can see, who they can talk to, and when they have access.

China exclusion

Apple’s confirmation that Apple Intelligence features will not be available in China at launch mirrors the situation that has applied to Apple Intelligence since its initial rollout. China’s regulatory framework around generative AI requires government approval for AI services and imposes data localisation requirements that are difficult to reconcile with the cloud-based components of Apple Intelligence. Google Gemini’s involvement in the new Siri architecture further complicates availability in China, where Google services are broadly blocked. Apple has historically offered a stripped-down feature set in China to comply with local regulations, and Apple Intelligence joins that list of restricted capabilities.