(Newsworthy.news) – According to a study released this week by a bipartisan House subcommittee, American venture capital companies have invested over $3 billion in Chinese tech businesses that have provided support to the Communist government, military, and the continuing atrocities targeting Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, China.
According to Republican Chairman Sen. Mike Gallagher and Democrat Ranking Member Sen. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has released the results of its investigation into five companies that provided financial support to the Chinese government, enabled human rights abuses, and benefited China’s semiconductor industry.
Walden International, Sequoia Capital China, GGV Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, and GSR Ventures invested over $1.9 billion in AI startups in China and over $1 billion in 150 semiconductor businesses.
Legislators argue that research only touched on the threat that U.S. investments in Chinese industries represent to American security.
Based on the committee’s research, it seems that the PRC has received billions of dollars more than what is detailed in this report. These funds have been used to fund the country’s military, digital dictatorship, and pursuit of technical dominance at the expense of American technological leadership. The PRC’s key industries have been built and strengthened by decades of investment from U.S. VCs, including financing, knowledge transfer, and other intangible advantages.
Both senators are demanding that the US cut off funding to Chinese companies that have been blacklisted or sanctioned for links to the PLA, CCP, or genocide.
The parent business of the social media platform TikTok, ByteDance, is under investigation for domestic spying. A third of the venture companies’ investments went to this company.
According to the research, US venture firms sent over $130 million to Chinese AI startups that are on the federal government’s blacklist.
These businesses have developed artificial intelligence software for autonomous Chinese military systems, gathered DNA samples from American residents, and made face recognition software that the Chinese government uses to target Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
According to a study summary by Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi, Americans have no idea that five venture capital companies are funding the authoritarian goals of the Chinese Communist Party with funds taken out of their retirement accounts.
The five VC firms allegedly offered semiconductor startups and Chinese AI access to talent, reputational advantages, and worldwide networks.
The report questions whether China’s premier semiconductor and AI industries would have emerged without US investments.
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