Chinese Court Rules Firms Can’t Lay Off Workers on AI Grounds
Attendees with a humanoid robot traffic officer at the Beijing Auto Show.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergA Chinese court ruled that companies cannot terminate employees just to replace them with artificial intelligence systems, as authorities juggle the need to stabilize the domestic labor market with a global race to develop AI technologies.
The court decided that a tech firm in eastern China had illegally fired one of its workers after he refused to take a demotion when his job was automated by AI, according to a statement published by the Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court.