Is Microsoft Moving its AI Talent Out of China?

Tech giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is moving some of its artificial intelligence (AI) researchers from China to Canada, the Financial Times reported. The company has started applying for visas to shift about 20 to 40 AI experts from its Beijing-based Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA) lab. The move comes amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and China. While Microsoft agreed that it is establishing a new lab in Canada, it said that the number of people that the Financial Times said are being moved was inaccurate.
MSFT Shifting Key AI Talent Out of China
Meanwhile, sources think that another reason behind the decision to move some of the staff out of China-based MSRA is to prevent talent from being poached by domestic tech companies, which are aggressively looking for AI researchers to develop generative AI applications following the hype created by OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

18 ancient Egyptian tombs with dozens of gold 'tongues' discovered along the Mediterranean coast (photo)
108013.07.2026, 22:53
These 600-Year-Old Chinese Surgical Instruments Are Coated in an Early Local Anesthetic—Carefully Extracted From a Poisonous Plant
136013.07.2026, 03:19
Uruguay unveils giant dinosaur species dating back 80 million years (photo)
155012.07.2026, 20:39
Scientists Built a Life-Size Dinosaur Nest and the Results Were Surprising (video)
327205.07.2026, 20:58
Archaeologists discover ancient Maya city hidden in Mexican jungle for over 1,000 years
537027.06.2026, 00:49
How old is the North Pole Dome impact, Western Australia?
615324.06.2026, 21:22
First shipwrecks linked to real pirates of the Caribbean found in Bahamas
649814.06.2026, 16:57
Pompeii escape: AI reconstructs the last gesture of an eruption victim (photo)
824918.05.2026, 00:37