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.
Malcolm & Marie
Directed by: Sam Levinson
Starring: John David Washington and Zendaya
Three stars
The specs
Engine: Turbocharged four-cylinder 2.7-litre
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
MATCH INFO
England 241-3 (20 ovs)
Malan 130 no, Morgan 91
New Zealand 165 all out (16.5ovs)
Southee 39, Parkinson 4-47
England win by 76 runs
Series level at 2-2
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
