WASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) – U.S. investors including the investment arms of Intel Corp ( INTC.O ) and Qualcomm Inc ( QCOM.O ) accounted for about a fifth of investments in Chinese artificial intelligence companies from 2015 to 2021, the report said. on Wednesday.
The document, released by CSET, a technology policy group at Georgetown University, comes amid growing scrutiny of US investment in AI, quantum and semiconductors, as the Biden administration prepares to unveil new limits on US funding of technology companies. of China.
According to the report, 167 US investors participated in 401 transactions, or about 17% of the investment in Chinese AI companies during that period.
Those transactions represent a total of 40.2 billion dollars in investment, or 37% of the total amount raised by Chinese AI companies over the 6-year period. It was not clear from the report, which released data from data provider Crunchbase, what percentage of funding came from US firms.
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Qualcomm Ventures and Intel Capital were involved in 13 and 11 investments in Chinese AI companies respectively, surpassed by GGV Capital which led US firms with 43 investments in the sector, the data showed.
The Biden administration is expected to unveil an executive order this year that curbs US investment in China’s critical technology industries, as hawks in Washington accuse American investors of transferring money and valuable information to Chinese technology companies that could help develop Beijing’s military capabilities.
According to a report, US investor GSR Ventures has invested alongside China’s IFlytek Co Ltd (002230.SZ) in a Chinese AI firm after the speech recognition company was listed as unemployed. Silicon Valley Bank and Wanxiang American Healthcare investment group invested in Chinese AI companies alongside China’s Sensetime before the facial recognition technology giant was added to the same trading list.
Both companies were added to the terrorist list, which effectively bars them from receiving US tech exports, in 2019 for alleged human rights violations related to the oppression of Uighur Muslims.
Some of the biggest investments include Goldman Sachs’ ( GS.N ) sole investment in 1KMXC, an AI-powered robotics company, and three US VC firms’ investment in Geek+, a private mobile robotics company , the report showed. .
Only one Chinese AI company that received funding from US investors is involved in developing AI applications for military use or public security, according to CSET.
Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Edited by Stephen Coates
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
