On July 20, 2021, a man walked through Microsoft’s local headquarters in Beijing.
Noel Sallis | AFP | Getty Images
Microsoft has reportedly asked its Chinese cloud computing and artificial intelligence operations staff to consider moving out of the country as Washington cracks down on Beijing’s access to advanced technology.
wall street journal reported this story on ThursdayAccording to the report, according to unnamed sources, these employees (mainly Chinese engineers) have been given the opportunity to be transferred to countries such as the United States, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
A source told the Wall Street Journal that Microsoft has offered the job to a total of about 700 to 800 people working on machine learning and other cloud computing-related work.
CNBC could not independently verify the report.
In a statement shared with CNBC, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that the company “shared optional internal relocation opportunities with select employees,” but did not provide details on the number of affected employees or their affiliations.
“We remain committed to the region and will continue to operate in the region and other markets where we operate,” the spokesman said, adding that the potential transfer would not impact operations.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft’s Asia-Pacific R&D team employs about 7,000 engineers, most of whom are located in China.
The move comes amid U.S. efforts to prevent China from developing cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology that could be used for military purposes. The United States has imposed a wave of restrictions on China over the past two years, limiting its ability to purchase advanced chips and chip-making equipment that can be used to train artificial intelligence models.
Now, according to recent reports, the Biden administration is looking to place new guardrails on the export of advanced artificial intelligence models, such as the large language models that power Microsoft-backed ChatGPT.
Currently, there are few government regulations to prevent companies like Microsoft, one of the largest cloud computing and artificial intelligence companies in the United States, from selling or servicing artificial intelligence models to foreign entities.
The United States is reportedly concerned that artificial intelligence models that mine large amounts of data to generate content could be used in cyberattacks or to create biological weapons.
Earlier this year, Microsoft Release report says state-sponsored hackers Hackers from Russia, China, and Iran have been using OpenAI’s tools to hone their skills and support their hacking activities.
Microsoft has been entrenched in China for more than three decades even as other Western technology companies have been driven out of the country by strict regulations.The company said China is its production base Largest R&D center outside the United States
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