Microsoft is asking some of its China-based staff to consider transferring outside the country, the company said on Thursday, as Sino-US relations strain amid a race for cutting-edge technology, reports Nikkei Asia. Washington has been trying to limit Beijing’s access to advanced chips used in artificial intelligence applications on grounds that they can be used to strengthen the country’s military, sparking tensions that have put pressure on US companies operating in China.
Microsoft is asking about 700 to 800 people who are involved in machine learning and other cloud computing-related work to consider relocating, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news.
“Providing internal opportunities is a regular part of managing our global business. As part of this process, we shared an optional internal transfer opportunity with a subset of employees,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in an emailed statement, without specifying the number of employees it sent the request to.