Microsoft asks some China-based staff to consider relocating amid Sino-U.S. tensions

Microsoft MSFT-Q is asking some of its China-based staff to consider transferring outside the country, the company said on Thursday, as Sino-U.S. relations strain amid a race for cutting-edge technology. Washington has been trying to limit Beijing's access to advanced chips used in AI applications on grounds that they can be used to strengthen the country's military, sparking tensions that have put pressure on U.S. companies operating in China. Microsoft is asking about 700 to 800 people who are involved in machine learning and other cloud computing-related work to consider relocating, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported…