The real “rise of the machines” is already underway in China: Apple and Samsung supplier Foxconn has reportedly replaced 60k human workers with robots in a single factory, in an effort to reduce labor costs, a report in the South China Morning Post revealed last week. “More companies are likely to follow suit,” Xu Yulian, head of the publicity department of the Kunshan region in China’s Jiangsu province has said. Kunshan, in which many Taiwanese manufacturers base their Chinese operations, is undergoing a massive reduction in headcount where around 600 companies are making the transition. Last year, 35 Taiwanese companies, including Foxconn, spent a total of CNY 4 bn (USD 610 mn) on AI. Market Watch explains that while AI has higher upfront costs, machines are considered to be more stable and predictable in the long run, and help firms such as Foxconn avoid any criticism over dire working conditions.