Microsoft is reportedly asking up to 800 employees in China if they’d consider leaving the country as tensions between the US and China continue to grow.
The company is offering transfers to workers involved in machine learning or cloud computing to countries like the US, Ireland, and Australia, sources told The Wall Street Journal.
Representatives for Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.
A Microsoft spokesperson told the Journal that internal-transfer opportunities were a normal part of business and that the company remained committed to its operations in China.
The report comes amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing over issues such as AI chips. The Biden administration is considering new rules that would require US tech companies to have licenses before giving Chinese customers access to AI chips, the Journal reported.
There have been concerns that harsher rules could escalate a fight with Beijing over the chips.
Chinese officials have also been asking domestic tech giants to buy locally made AI chips. Major companies like Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, and TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, were told to cut spending on foreign-made chips like those from Nvidia, The Information reported this week, citing unnamed sources.
The move is a blow for Nvidia, which sees China as a critical market and key revenue generator.
Other tech companies have also been caught up in geopolitical tensions.
Apple has been having a rough ride in China recently, with iPhone sales taking a beating from local suppliers in this key market. Apple also appears to be working to diversify its supply chains away from China.
Beijing has been cracking down on officials’ use of iPhones. Chinese officials across at least eight provinces had been told to stop using Apple devices, Bloomberg previously reported.
