HANDS OFF THE ROBOTS

U.S. May Limit Chinese Investment in Artificial Intelligence

CFIUS considering ways to keep Beijing out of Silicon Valley’s key advances.

U.S. officials are looking to heighten scrutiny of Chinese investments in artificial intelligence, in particular in Silicon Valley, to better shield projects viewed as important to national security. Reuters reports that an unreleased Pentagon report cautions against China skirting U.S. oversight in order to gain access to sensitive technology. Now, the U.S. is looking at bolstering the role of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies that might affect national security. Authorities have said they are specifically concerned about fields like machine learning, which has increasingly drawn Chinese capital in recent years. Analysts fear cutting-edge technologies developed in the U.S. could be used by Beijing—or others—to bolster its military capabilities and even push ahead in strategic industries.