US Congress urged venture capital firms not to invest in Chinese artificial intelligence developers

The US House of Representatives Special Committee on the Chinese Communist Party has sent letters to four US venture capital firms expressing "serious concerns" about their investments in Chinese technology startups.

Here's What We Know

The letters were sent to GGV Capital, GST Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures and Walden International. The lawmakers said they are investing in companies that violate human rights and boost China's military.

They cited dozens of examples of firms that track Uighurs in China and profile ethnic minorities. One of them is SenseTime, which has received funding from Qualcomm Ventures.

The fund with the most potentially troubled investments is GGV Capital, which has offices in the US and PRC. Between 2015 and 2021, it invested in 43 Chinese artificial intelligence companies, including facial recognition software provider Megvii.

The letters are part of a bipartisan campaign to increase pressure on US investment in China amid rising tensions between the two countries. The US Commerce Department is also considering further restrictions on exports of advanced chips to the PRC.

Go Deeper:

• WSJ: US to limit exports of cloud services to China
• The US is considering new restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence chips to China
• China has restricted exports of key materials for computer chips

Source: NBC