Should every country do the same? China has just pushed back against the idea of replacing people with algorithms simply to cut costs.
A court in Hangzhou ruled in favor of Zhou, a supervisor who was fired after his company introduced AI software to take over his job. Before dismissing him, the company also tried to cut his salary by 40%, but the court decided that technology is not a valid excuse to “shift the risks of innovation onto employees.”
This May 2026 ruling makes it clear that AI should be used as a support tool, not as an automatic replacement for human workers.
According to lawyer Wang Xuyang, companies “must take social responsibility” and cannot justify layoffs by claiming that code is more efficient. A huge relief for workers!
