Microsoft Asks Employees in China to Relocate – An Attempt to Curb China’s Access to AI?

• According to a recent report, Microsoft has asked about 700-800 employees to consider moving from China to countries such as the US, New Zealand, Ireland, or Australia.
• Although there have been speculations, the exact reason behind this request is unknown.
• A Microsoft spokesperson has clarified that this request is optional, meaning employees can choose to stay back in China if they want.

According to a Wall Street Journal Report, Microsoft last week asked some of its staff from China to consider moving out of the country. They have until June to make up their mind.

A few unnamed sources revealed that this directive was sent out to 700-800 employees (mostly Chinese nationals) from the artificial intelligence and cloud business wing. They have the option to relocate to the US, New Zealand, Ireland or Australia.

It's important to note that this relocation offer is optional and employees can still choose to remain in China - this has been confirmed by a Microsoft spokesperson.

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." - Microsoft spokesperson

Microsoft's Motive Behind Asking Its Employees to Consider Moving Out from China?

Let's look into some possible reasons why Microsoft might be doing this.

Reason #1

I'll start on a politically-correct note. So, the first reason why Microsoft is asking its employees to move could be that it wants to strengthen its global team by sending out its best employees in all of its locations.

Reason #2

Here's the fun bit: considering the timing of this offer, it's very plausible that the real reason is the growing tensions between the US and China, and the efforts of the Biden administration to prevent China from getting its hands on an advanced technology like AI.

• For instance, the U.S. government recently passed a bill that prevents China from purchasing any advanced chips or equipment from America.
• The White House is also contemplating another bill, which if passed, will force US companies like Microsoft to get separate licenses if they want to sell advanced computing equipment to Chinese customers.

Thirdly, as we all know, the US has passed the TikTok ban bill, which gives parent company ByteDance roughly a year to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese company or risk having TikTok permanently banned in the US.

Now, China will not allow ByteDance to sell TikTok, especially not with its core algorithm attached to the sale. Why? Because it doesn't want that to leave Chinese hands.

Reason #3

Another reason for this move, which is linked to the second one, is that Microsoft recently came under scrutiny for its closeness with China, especially because it's one of the few tech giants that comply with all Chinese censorship to keep its business up and running in that country.

At a Senate subcommittee hearing on AI last September, the company's president Brad Smith was asked how much they are investing in AI growth in China. Back then, Smith assured them that the company wasn't going against any US regulations.

How Will This Affect Microsoft & China's Relationship?

Microsoft has always been on good terms with China. When China opened its borders after the pandemic, Bill Gates was one of the first business leaders that Xi Jinping hosted.

In fact, while Google and Facebook are banned in China, Microsoft still operates there, although it has to deal with a fair bit of criticism for doing business in China. That aside, though, Microsoft's Windows operating system, the Bing search engine, as well as the Office programs are all in high demand in China.

However, with Microsoft's latest move, their relationship might be negatively affected. After all, the US is already trying to cut off resources from China so it can't compete in the AI race.

Also, it's so easy to see how the headline here reads: a major US company plans to take away top talents from China (a hardcore rival of the US) and move them elsewhere.

You see what I mean, right? Now, sure, Microsoft might not necessarily have ill intentions, but it's very likely that Chinese officials might see this move as an attack.

However, I'd like to clarify that all of this is just speculation, as not a single government official (from either side) has addressed this news yet.

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