They are planning to move to Canada.
Microsoft plans to move some of its top artificial intelligence (AI) experts from China to a new lab in Canada.
The Beijing-based Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA), recognized as the country’s most important center, has begun issuing visas for its top AI scientists. The move from China’s capital to Vancouver could potentially affect 20 to 40 employees, according to people familiar with the process.
Although the company denies a formal “Vancouver Plan”, insiders point to the move as a strategic response to rising political tensions between the United States and China. It’s also a precautionary measure to protect top talent from being poached by local tech firms that are in dire need of AI talent. These firms are looking to develop their own versions of complex artificial intelligence systems such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Microsoft is preparing to take artificial intelligence experts out of China
“While Microsoft has strong ties to China, having our best researchers here, especially those in machine learning, is risky,” said one Microsoft researcher. The move is seen as a protective measure against the risk of talent being poached by Chinese companies or employees facing government harassment.
Microsoft has been present in China for more than three decades, successfully developing localized products, including the flagship Office and Windows software suites and the Bing search engine. As of September last year, Microsoft employed about 9,000 people in China, with more than 80% of them working as software engineers or in research and development.
