Amazon to shut AI lab in China amid US tensions
Amazon is closing its AI research lab in Shanghai, which opened in 2018 under AWS.
The move follows growing US-China tensions that are making it tougher for American tech companies to operate in China.
While AWS once had over 1,000 employees there, Amazon hasn't shared how many jobs will be lost.
Tech giants are cutting staff and doubling down on AI
Amazon's decision fits a larger trend—tech giants like Microsoft and Meta are cutting staff and doubling down on AI.
Just this year, Microsoft announced significant layoffs worldwide as part of its shift toward artificial intelligence.
The lab created the Deep Graph Library
Even though the Shanghai lab was modest in size, it punched above its weight—publishing over 100 top machine learning papers and creating the Deep Graph Library.
That tool alone reportedly brought Amazon nearly $1 billion in e-commerce revenue—a huge win from a small crew.