A US congressional panel is investigating 4 enterprise capital corporations, together with the funding arm of semiconductor firm Qualcomm, concerning financing of Chinese language AI, semiconductor and quantum applied sciences.
Thus far the Home Choose Committee on the Chinese language Communist Get together said it has despatched letters to GGV Capital, GSR Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures and Walden Worldwide highlighting its considerations and asking for additional particulars of China-based investments by August 1.
They had been written by the highest two committee members, Wisconsin Republican Mike Gallagher and Illinois Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, and depend on info from a Middle for Safety and Rising Expertise (CSET) report launched in February.
The report [PDF] goals to determine the primary US traders energetic within the Chinese language AI market, and which Chinese language corporations benefited from US capital between 2015 and 2021.
“Personal fairness (PE) and VC investments play an vital function in funding China’s AI development. With in depth help from Chinese language authorities actors in addition to overseas capital and networks, together with these from the US, China’s PE and VC market has grown to change into the world’s second largest, following that of the US,” stated CSET.
For Qualcomm Ventures (QV), the committee highlighted concern over its funding in Zongmu, a self-driving automobile firm that claims to advertise Chinese language military-civilian integration.
In accordance with the committee, QV additionally invested 13 instances over the span of six years in SenseTime, which the committee said [PDF] was linked to efforts to profile and monitor the Chinese language Muslim minority Uyghur inhabitants.
QV was additionally stated to have invested within the Folks’s Republic of China (PRC) based mostly GPU AI chip startup Denglin Expertise thereby advancing the PRC semiconductor business, and suggested and directed funding actions of the Strategic China Enterprise Fund, which helps Chinese language startups and holds semiconductor investments as a strategic precedence.
GGV Capital drew concern for its funding in Megvii, a software program developer of AI programs that may detect Uyghur folks and subject automated alarms to authorities. The know-how earned Megvii a spot on the US Bureau of Trade and Safety’s Entity Checklist for human rights abuses. The panel additionally cited different investments it was involved about – 43 that had been PRC AI-related within the six years measured.
The committee stated Walden Worldwide has additionally invested in an organization on the US Entity Checklist for enabling Uyghur surveillance in Xinjiang province, Intellifusion. The Shenzhen firm calls itself “a frontrunner of non-cooperative facial recognition.”
Moreover, the panel stated 39 % of Walden’s AI investments had been in PRC corporations within the six years CSET analyzed.
Lastly, the committee cites a report from the Middle for Safety and Rising Expertise (CSET) that claims GSR Ventures was a prime US-located investor in Chinese language AI between 2015 and 2021, with 33 investments in PRC AI enterprises throughout that point.
“These transactions not solely assist finance the event of know-how that’s immediately opposite to US nationwide pursuits, but in addition threat transferring crucial know-how and experience from the US to the PRC,” stated the panel. ®
