A man walks past Microsoft's local headquarters in Beijing on July 20, 2021.
Noel Sales | AFP | Getty Images
Microsoft has reportedly asked employees of China-based cloud computing and artificial intelligence operations to consider moving out of the country, as Washington blocks Beijing's access to cutting-edge technology.
The Wall Street Journal broke the story on Thursday, reporting that staff, mostly Chinese engineers, had been offered transfers to countries including the United States, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, according to unnamed sources. According to.
A source told the WSJ that Microsoft made the offer to about 700 to 800 people in total who were involved in machine learning and other tasks related to cloud computing.
CNBC could not independently verify the report.
In a statement shared with CNBC, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that the company has “shared an optional internal transition opportunity with a subset of employees” without providing details on the number and affiliation of affected staff.
“We remain committed to the region and will continue to operate in this and other markets where we have a presence,” the spokesperson said, adding that the potential move would not affect operations.
Microsoft employs about 7,000 engineers for its Asia-Pacific research and development group, with the majority of the workforce based in China, the WSJ reports.
The move comes amid US efforts to prevent China from developing advanced AI technology, which could be used for military purposes. Over the past two years, the US has imposed waves of sanctions on China that have limited its ability to buy advanced chips and chip-making equipment that can be deployed to train AI models.
Now, the Biden administration is trying to put new guardrails on the export of cutting-edge AI models, such as the giant language model that powers Microsoft-backed ChatGPT, according to recent reports.
Companies like Microsoft, one of the largest cloud computing and AI players in the US, currently face little government oversight of selling or offering AI model services to foreign entities.
The US reportedly fears that AI models, which use large amounts of data to generate content, could be used to launch cyber attacks or create biological weapons.
Earlier this year, Microsoft released a report stating that state-backed hackers in Russia, China and Iran are using OpenAI's tools to hone their skills and support their hacking campaigns.
Microsoft has been deeply entrenched in China for more than three decades, even as other Western tech companies were pushed out by tighter regulations. The company says China is its largest R&D center outside the US.
Read the full Wall Street Journal report.