Hangzhou court orders tech firm to pay Zhou 260,000 yuan
Business
Big news from Hangzhou: a court last month ordered a tech company to pay 260,000 yuan (about £28,000) to Zhou, an employee let go after his job was taken over by artificial intelligence, or AI.
Zhou had started as a quality assurance supervisor in 2022, but when the company claimed AI could do his work and offered him a demotion with a big pay cut, he stood his ground and refused.
Ruling part of automation debate
The court ruled that Zhou's firing wasn't justified, especially with China's youth unemployment rate now 17%.
This case is part of a bigger conversation about how automation is changing jobs and what companies owe their workers.
State media have praised the ruling for protecting people's rights as technology keeps moving fast.