Shanghai, July 23: Amazon is reportedly on the verge of shutting down its AI research lab in Shanghai amid the US-China tensions. Amazon has not officially provided any updates regarding these reported claims. Still, the e-commerce giant will likely pull itself out of China as the tension between Washington and Beijing escalates. It is yet to be confirmed whether the number of employees working at the Shanghai AI research lab will be affected by the following layoffs.

Earlier this year, the United States and China were in a tariff war. The US President Donald Trump imposed higher import tariffs on Chinese goods for balanced trade; however, China retaliated and increased rates too. Following this, China banned the export of rare earth materials outside the country, hurting the US and countries like India. Amazon To Acquire AI Wearable Startup Bee, Users Can Expect More Control Over Privacy.

Amazon has previously announced various rounds of layoffs; however, this decision is different. According to a report by Reuters, Amazon will shut down its AI research lab in Shanghai amid the rising tension between these two countries. Amazon Shanghai lab scientist Wang Minjie said on WeChat that his team was being dissolved due to the strategic adjustment between the United States and China. Amazon Layoffs in 2025: US-Based E-Commerce Giant Rumoured To Cut 10% More Jobs by End of This Year, Slash 25% Principal-Level Roles, Says Report.

Amazon Shanghai AI Research Lab in Shanghai

AWS (Amazon Web Services) reportedly established its Shanghai Lab in 2018. It is unclear how many people were working there; however, the report cited FT, which said that AWS had 1,000 staff in China at peak. Amazon has already conducted layoffs of employees from various divisions this year and is likely planning to do more. It reduced the headcount of divisions like Alexa, the cloud computing unit, and more. This year, Meta, Google, Intel, Microsoft, and various other companies have laid off their employees amid various reasons; however, many of these firms have adopted artificial intelligence (AI).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 23, 2025 01:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).