The American technological technological giant Amazon closed its research laboratory in artificial intelligence (IA) in Shanghai, a source close to the file on Friday.
This announcement of the closure of the laboratory – which belonged to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) division – comes at a time when AI occupies a growing place in the rivalry between Beijing and Washington.
This closure is “due to the strategic adjustment between China and the United States,” said a scientist within the laboratory, Wang Minjie, according to a screenshot of a weChat message widely disseminated on social networks.
Last week, AWS had already announced positions of positions in all of its operations – certain media evoking hundreds of jobs concerned.
Contacted by AFP, Amazon has not directly confirmed the closure of the Shanghai laboratory.
“We have made the decision difficult to remove certain positions in specific AWS teams,” said spokesperson Brad Glasser.
“These decisions are necessary when we continue to invest, hire and optimize our resources in order to provide innovation to our customers.”
A page dedicated to the laboratory on the AWS Chinese site, consulted on Wednesday by AFP, was nevertheless no longer accessible on Friday.
According to an archive on this page, the laboratory had been created in the fall of 2018. One of its missions was to “actively promote collaboration with the research community”, according to the website.
Other American technological companies such as Microsoft or IBM have recently reduced the wing of their research divisions in China, against the backdrop of tightening of state control over the sectors deemed sensitive, and increased technological competition between Washington and Beijing.
