Amazon follows IBM and Microsoft, shuts China AI lab that generated nearly $1 billion in sales

Amazon is shutting down its artificial intelligence (AI) lab in Shanghai, making it the latest US tech company to scale back research in China, a report has said, citing growing geopolitical tensions as the reason. The move follows similar actions by IBM and Microsoft, which have also reduced their R&D efforts in the country as US scrutiny over China-related AI work intensifies.

According to a report by The Financial Times, the development was confirmed by Wang Minjie, a scientist at the lab, via a social media post on WeChat. The lab was established by Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2018 and Wang stated that his team was being “dissolved due to strategic adjustments amid US-China tensions,” and reflected on the “golden era of foreign research labs” in China.