On the 1st, the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that Microsoft (MS), a U.S. big tech corporation, has closed its artificial intelligence (AI) research center in Shanghai, China.
According to the report, MS has closed its Internet of Things (IoT) and AI Insider research center located in the Shanghai Yangtze River (Changjiang) High-Tech Industrial Development Zone. Employees from nearby corporations explained that the research center, which was established for IoT and AI technology development, shut down around January to February of this year.
SCMP noted that when they recently visited the research center, the MS logo had been removed, and office furnishings had been tidied up and left in a dark, empty state.
The area is home to several big tech corporations, including German semiconductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies and Chinese internet corporation Baidu. It also hosts Chinese facial recognition startup CloudWalk Technology (yuncong keji) and AI corporation Winner Technology (huina keji).
The closure of MS's research center is analyzed as a signal of large-scale withdrawals by U.S. corporations. SCMP explained that this is "the most recent case indicating that U.S. tech giants are withdrawing from China amid escalating geopolitical tensions."