Cook is back in China. Apple Intelligence isn't

IF YOU LOG onto Chinese social media these days, you may encounter many young people expressing the “involution” or neijuan mentality.

- CATHERINE THORBECKE Bloomberg

It’s become a buzzword for a generation of college students and recent graduates beaten down by society’s relentless competition, and roughly translates to rolling inwards.

You also might stumble upon new selfies of Apple CEO Tim Cook, who was back in China this week for his first visit of the year. The US business leader and de-facto diplomat between the geopolitical nemeses had a packed itinerary: Meeting officials in Beijing, stopping by a local Apple store, and visiting students in Hangzhou, among other events. As usual, he chronicled much of his journey via bilingual Weibo posts.

So far, there’s been no official updates on the rollout of Apple Intelligence in the country. But his trip comes as competition in China’s AI sector has become ferocious, revitalized by the success of DeepSeek and fresh top-down government support. Domestic smartphone rivals, meanwhile, have been much quicker to incorporate the buzzy technology into devices. iPhone sales have seen a precipitous drop, falling more than 18% in the December quarter. On a recent earnings call, Cook called China “the most competitive market in the world”.