Alibaba Lays Off 50 Employees As It Shuts Israel R&D Center: Report

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings BABA is shutting down its R&D center in Israel, the company notified its employees on Sunday.

What Happened: According to Israeli News company CTech, Alibaba notified around 50 local employees on Sunday that it plans to shut the center and lay off the staff.

According to the report, the Israel R&D center of Alibaba has employed dozens of experts in the fields of AI, product and cloud and mobile software engineering.

See Also: Alibaba Loses 2%, Nio Tumbles 9%: What's Dragging Hong Kong Stocks Today? 

Israel's unit General Manager Lihi Zelnik Manor left the company in November and was never replaced.

Alibaba did not provide the reason behind the closure and whether the center was shut down due to dissatisfaction or the global slowdown in the tech sector remains a mystery.

Alibaba built its Israeli R&D center in 2017 after acquiring two startups: Visualead and InfinityAR. The center was subsequently attached to Alibaba's scientific and technological research arm DAMO Academy, which works on special projects.

Price Action: The Hong Kong-listed stock of Alibaba declined nearly 2%, while the overall Hang Seng Index shed 0.86% during the trading session on Tuesday. According to data from Benzinga Pro, Alibaba shares closed 0.94% higher in the U.S. on Monday.

Read Next: Alibaba Said To Get China License To Test Its Self-Driving Trucks On Road