A court in Hangzhou, China, has drawn a clear line in the growing debate around artificial intelligence and employment, ruling that companies cannot dismiss workers simply because AI is cheaper.
The decision, one of the clearest legal signals yet on the limits of workplace automation, comes at a time when tech companies globally are aggressively restructuring around AI. In the United States, firms like Block and Coinbase have recently faced scrutiny over layoffs tied to efficiency pushes and increasing AI adoption, intensifying fears that automation is no longer just changing work but replacing workers outright.
