Microsoft is reportedly asking about 700 to 800 of its China-based cloud-computing and AI operations staff to consider relocating to other countries amidst escalating US-China trade tensions. The employees, mostly Chinese nationals, have been offered the option to transfer to countries including the U.S., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
Microsoft is asking about 700 to 800 people in its China-based cloud computing and artificial intelligence operations to consider transferring outside the country, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. This comes amid ongoing geopolitical and trade tensions between Washington and Beijing as the Biden administration attempts to curb China’s access to advanced technology, including AI.
Microsoft has worked closely with customers and industry partners to realize innovation and localize and land Microsoft technologies and solutions in China. Microsoft boasts a robust partner ecosystem with 17,000 partners. For every RMB that Microsoft earns in China, Microsoft partners earn 16.
The American tech giant Microsoft has been in China for over 20 years, entering the market in 1992. The company’s largest R&D center outside the US is in China. China criticized the Biden administration’s actions and promised to take “resolute measures” to defend its interests.
The staffers in question are primarily engineers of Chinese nationality working on machine learning and cloud computing. According to previous speculations, Microsoft headquarters sent an email notifying multiple AI research teams in the China region, such as the C+AI team and the Azure ML team, which work on AI platforms, to relocate to the United States or Australia.
This move could involve hundreds of employees, who must decide by June 7. They could also take severance compensation, and Microsoft US can assist with family visas. However, an insider at Microsoft stated, “As far as I know, some employees have received optional internal transfer opportunities,” and the adjustments “do not affect domestic operations.”
WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the employees, primarily engineers of Chinese nationality, were offered an option earlier in the week to transfer to the U.S., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
The move comes amid spiraling Sino-U.S. relations as President Joe Biden’s administration hiked tariffs on Chinese imports, including electric vehicle (EV) batteries, computer chips, and medical products.
Earlier this month, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella announced that Microsoft will invest $2.2 billion in Malaysia over the next four years to build cloud computing and AI computing infrastructure (data centers) and provide AI skills training for 200,000 people.
It is said to be Microsoft’s most significant investment in Malaysia. Before this, Microsoft’s data centers in Southeast Asia were mainly established in Singapore.
At Microsoft’s Asia Research Institute, the company does not allow Chinese researchers to use the GPT-4 beta and core technologies in advance. At the same time, the company has also restricted the institute’s research work in quantum computing, facial recognition, and synthetic media.
However, at the branch in Vancouver, researchers can freely access critical technologies, including the computing power and OpenAI systems required for cutting-edge research.
image source : https://www.investmentmonitor.ai/big-tech/what-will-microsoft-do-next/
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