Chinese Court Rules AI Adoption Cannot Justify Employee Dismissals

A Chinese court has ruled that companies cannot dismiss employees solely because artificial intelligence can perform their jobs. The Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court issued this decision, siding with an employee who lost his job after his company replaced part of his work with large language models. The court published the case as an example of protecting both AI enterprises and workers ahead of International Workers' Day on May 1.

Key Highlights

• Chinese court rules AI adoption alone cannot justify employee termination.
• Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court upholds employee's claim after AI replaced part of his job.
• Court finds AI-driven job changes do not meet legal grounds for dismissal under labor law.
• Similar cases in China have reached the same conclusion on AI-related job losses.

Details of the Court Case

The dispute began when an employee, surnamed Zhou, joined an AI-related company in 2022 as a quality assurance supervisor. He earned 25,000 yuan per month. Zhou's job involved reviewing outputs from large language models, matching user queries, and filtering illegal or problematic content to ensure accuracy. Over time, the company used AI to automate parts of his responsibilities.

The company then tried to reassign Zhou to a lower-level position with a reduced salary of 15,000 yuan per month. Zhou refused, arguing that the new role and pay cut were unreasonable. The company terminated his contract, citing organizational restructuring and reduced staffing needs, and offered compensation. Zhou challenged the dismissal and the compensation through arbitration.

The arbitration panel ruled in Zhou's favor, declaring the dismissal unlawful and supporting his claim for additional compensation. The company appealed to the Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court, but the court upheld the earlier decision. The court stated that replacing a worker with AI does not provide legal grounds for termination under current Chinese labor laws.

Legal Context and Broader Impact

Legal experts explained that the key question was whether AI-driven job replacement qualifies as a "major change in circumstances" under China's Labour Contract Law. The court determined it does not. During the appeal, the court found the company failed to prove that Zhou's role had become impossible to perform. The court also ruled that offering a significantly lower-paying position did not count as a reasonable reassignment. On these grounds, the termination was deemed unlawful.

The ruling clarifies that companies cannot use AI adoption as a justification to end employment contracts. Legal experts noted that while companies can benefit from AI's efficiency, they must also consider their responsibilities to employees. The court emphasized that adopting AI does not allow employers to bypass their obligations or dismiss staff without proper cause.

This is not the first such case in China. In a similar dispute last year, a map data collector lost his job due to automation. The court reached the same conclusion, stating that AI replacement alone cannot justify dismissal. The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security included that case in its typical arbitration rulings for 2025, published in December.