Court Rules Against Insurer for Dismissing Employee Over AI Use

China News Service reported that the Chaoyang District People Court in Beijing concluded a labor dispute involving an employee identified as Ms. Wu who was dismissed after using an external artificial intelligence tool to handle internal files. The court ruled that both parties must continue to perform the labor contract, and the company must pay year-end bonus differences, performance pay, and lost wages under an effective judgment. In July 2024, Ms. Wu worked in legal affairs at an insurance company handling compliance inspections and uploaded a compiled internal audit data sheet to a third-party artificial intelligence platform to improve her workflow and presentation drafting. One month later, the insurer issued a termination notice, unilaterally ending the employment relationship on the grounds that Ms. Wu had severely violated internal regulations. The presiding judge Chai Xu stated that Ms. Wu lacked subjective intent to violate company rules because her core purpose was assisting her duties rather than maliciously stealing or leaking information, whereas the company rules treated subjective intent as a required element for violations. Chai explained that the company had no explicit rules barring employees from using third-party artificial intelligence tools, had not issued specific operational guidelines, and had not conducted special training regarding associated compliance risks.

Under the effective court ruling, the insurance company must continue performing the labor contract with Ms. Wu and must pay her year-end bonus differences, performance salary, and lost wages resulting from the contract termination.