The technology debate has been settled in China—replacing humans with artificial intelligence is now an offence. A court in eastern China’s Hangzhou city, an AI hub, has ruled in favour of a senior tech worker whose company replaced him with AI.
Legal scholars are hailing the decision as a reassuring sign of labour protection rights amid China’s AI race.
The company failed to cite valid termination grounds such as negative circumstances, business downsizing, or legal conditions. In fact, Zhou—the employee who primarily worked with AI large language models and verified the accuracy of answers they generated for users—was asked to take a pay cut, citing disruptive AI use.
A similar case emerged in December 2025, when the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security released typical arbitration cases. One involved a dispute over AI-driven job displacement for a map data collector. The arbitration panel ruled clearly that AI replacement does not justify dismissal.
Courts are finding that companies voluntarily adopt AI to stay competitive, yet cite it as grounds for dismissal—effectively shifting the risks of technological iteration onto employees.
Such sweeping AI adoption has stirred worries about abusive replacements. Recent media reports highlighted a company in east China’s Shandong Province using an AI digital replica of a former employee to perform his tasks, sparking widespread attention. In open-source communities, a trend has emerged to harvest human capabilities into reusable AI “skills.”
China’s core AI industry exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan in 2025, with over 6,200 related enterprises. By 2030, the penetration rate of next-generation intelligent terminals and agents is expected to exceed 90 per cent, reported Xinhua agency.
Its large-language models dominated global usage rankings during the week of March 30 to April 5, with all top six by token consumption from China. With humanoid robots entering various sectors, such cases are likely to rise.
