In November 2019, the US government’s National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI), an influential body chaired by former Google CEO and CEO Eric Schmidt, warned that China was using artificial intelligence to “promote an autocratic agenda.”
Just two months earlier, Schmidt was also seeking possible personal connections to China’s AI industry on a visit to Beijing, newly revealed emails reveal. Separately, tax returns show that a private nonprofit foundation overseen by Schmidt and his wife contributed to a fund that fuels a private equity firm that has made investments in numerous Chinese technology companies, including those in intelligence. artificial.
When the NSCAI released its full findings in 2021, Schmidt and the NSCAI vice president said in a sentence that “China’s plans, resources and progress should concern all Americans” and warned that “China’s domestic use of AI is a chilling precedent for anyone in the world who values individual freedom.”
The 2019 email communications, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Technology Transparency Project (TTP)a nonprofit research initiative that tracks the influence of the tech industry, shows staff at Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic company, asking NSCAI employees to help identify “possible compromises.” [Schmidt] could have on AI, in a personal capacity.” The names are redacted, but an NSCAI staff member responds: “Sure, happy to help.” One person is tasked with finding “interesting companies in Beijing.”
It is unclear what meetings, if any, took place in China as a result of the discussions, or whether such meetings could have translated into business deals. However, the messages add details to what appears to be a complicated relationship between Schmidt and the United States’ main geopolitical rival. They also reflect the paradox of rivalry and interdependence that characterizes the dynamic between the two most powerful nations in the world.
Flight logs Data previously obtained by TTP shows that a Gulfstream flew from Google’s hangar in November 2019. A day later, media reports suggest that Schmidt, who was in China for the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, I had dinner with Kai-Fu Lee, former director of Google China and prominent Chinese businessman and investor. The couple told a Bloomberg reporter at the time that they were “just catching up.”
Tax returns for 2019 show that the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, a nonprofit organization overseen by the billionaire and his wife, had invested nearly $17 million in a fund that feeds an investment firm then called Hillhouse Capital, which invests in several prominent Chinese technology companies. and artificial intelligence companies, among other businesses. In October 2016, Hillhouse reportedly launched an AI investment fund with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a state institution. In 2017, Hillhouse led a $55 million funding round in Chinese AI company Yitu, a startup that would soon be repeatedly blacklisted by the US government for allegedly supplying Facial recognition technology used for surveillance. in China.
He NSCAI final report Includes a section on promoting “International Digital Democracy” initiatives. It provides a number of suggestions on how to “develop, promote and finance” digital ecosystems, including partnerships with the private sector, and cites Hillhouse as a positive example.