A Chinese court made a historic ruling. It said companies cannot fire workers just to use AI instead. This helps protect jobs in China. It balances the local job market with AI technology growth.
The Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court ruled on a case. A tech company in eastern China fired an employee unfairly. The employee refused a lower-paying job. His old job was now done by AI. This decision is a big step in the AI and jobs debate.
The case is about a worker named Zhou. He joined an AI company in 2022. He was a quality assurance supervisor. He earned about 25,000 yuan per month. He worked with large language models. He checked their outputs and content.
Over time, the company used AI for some of his tasks. Zhou was then asked to move to a lower job. His pay would drop to 15,000 yuan.
Zhou refused the new role. The company ended his contract. They said it was due to restructuring. They offered compensation. Zhou disagreed and sought arbitration.
An arbitration panel ruled for Zhou. They said the firing was unlawful. The company appealed to the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court. The court upheld the original ruling.
The court explained that using AI to replace a human worker is not a good legal reason to fire someone. Offering a lower-paying job is not a fair reassignment.