Meituan, Baidu, Xiaomi, and other Chinese tech giants have been trimming their workforces, fueling Chinese workers' concerns of being replaced by AI
When a friend checked in on a Meituan employee late last month to see if he had survived the latest round of corporate culling …
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China's Tech Giants Are Cutting Workers as AI Anxiety Surges
Meituan, Baidu, Xiaomi, and other major Chinese tech firms are slashing jobs, stoking fears that AI is replacing human workers.
China's biggest tech companies are quietly trimming their workforces, and employees are rattled. Meituan, Baidu, Xiaomi, and other major players have all been cutting staff in recent rounds of layoffs.
The cuts are fueling a growing anxiety among Chinese tech workers: that artificial intelligence is coming for their jobs. The mood is grim enough that colleagues are checking in on each other just to see who survived the latest round of corporate culling.
While tech layoffs aren't new, the AI angle is sharpening the fear. As these companies pour resources into AI development, the uncomfortable math is becoming clear — fewer humans needed per unit of output.
China's tech workforce is watching the same AI-driven displacement story play out that's been haunting Silicon Valley, but with its own local intensity. The layoffs show no signs of slowing.