China’s AI chip champion Cambricon downsizes autonomous driving unit as it struggles to make a profit
- SingGo, a smart car chip unit, cut half the staff in its software departments and retained only several employees in hardware development
- The move marks Cambricon’s second round of lay-offs this year, coming after the company was placed on a US trade blacklist last December
Cambricon Technologies, seen as one of China’s top artificial intelligence (AI) chip developers, has laid off nearly half the workers at its self-driving chip unit as the US-blacklisted company struggles to break even.
SingGo, a smart car chip unit under the Beijing-based holding company, cut nearly half the staff in its software departments and retained only several employees in hardware development, with new projects being suspended, the news portal website Sina.com reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The company’s Shenzhen office also laid off some workers, the report said.
Cambricon declined to comment on Friday.
On China’s workplace networking site Maimai, a user who claimed to be an employee of SingGo said he was laid off and received one month’s severance for each year of service.
