New Delhi, April 26 -- Just as a number of tech companies are laying people off to adapt to the changes brought in by Artificial Intelligence (AI), tech giant Microsoft is reportedly planning its first ever voluntary retirement buyout for its employees, according to a memo. Microsoft has never previously done buyouts of this scale.

Like other US tech giants, Microsoft has been spending aggressively on artificial intelligence. But adoption of one of its flagship AI services, the 365 Copilot, has reached just slightly over 3 per cent of its total 450 million 365 customers.

The one-time voluntary retirement plan, some eligible employees in the United States will be given the option to retire early.

About 7 per cent of the US workforce wil...