Microsoft asked some of its staff in China to consider transferring out of the country, as tensions between Washington and Beijing rise amid a race for cutting-edge technology.
The US has been looking to limit China's access to advanced chips used in AI applications because of concerns they can be used to strengthen the country's military, raising tensions that have put pressure on US companies operating in China.
Microsoft has asked between 700 and 800 employees involved in machine learning and other work related to cloud computing to consider relocating, The Wall Street Journal reported.
"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 representative said, without specifying how many staff were contacted.
Microsoft remains committed to China and will continue to operate in the country and in other markets, the representative said.
It is among the US companies with the largest presence in China. Microsoft entered the market in 1992 and operates a large research and development centre in the country.
The employees, mostly Chinese engineers, were this week offered the option to transfer to the US, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand, The Wall Street Journal reported. Reuters could not immediately verify those details.
The move comes days after US President Joe Biden's administration increased tariffs on Chinese imports, including electric vehicle batteries, computer chips and medical products.
Reuters reported this month that the US Department of Commerce is considering a regulatory push to restrict the export of proprietary or closed-source AI models, whose software and the data it is trained on are kept under wraps.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
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The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
T20 World Cup Qualifier, Muscat
UAE FIXTURES
Friday February 18: v Ireland
Saturday February 19: v Germany
Monday February 21: v Philippines
Tuesday February 22: semi-finals
Thursday February 24: final
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
