R. Scott (i47i) :freebsd_logo:<p>3/</p><p>Hundreds of millions in lobbying<br>The sale of technology to China is contentious among both Republicans and Democrats, with some arguing for a harder stance.</p><p>> They are fighting a powerful opponent. An AP analysis of lobbying filings showed U.S. tech and telecom companies, as well as their trade associations, spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the past two decades on lobbyists who listed key bills impacting China-related trade on their quarterly disclosure reports, among other issues.</p><p>> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/Tech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Tech</span></a> companies argue that further export restrictions will push <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/China" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>China</span></a> to develop its own domestic supply and strengthen its position in the global race for leadership in artificial intelligence.</p><p>> “Continuing to ban U.S. computing from commercial markets only benefits foreign competition and undercuts President Trump’s efforts to create jobs, reduce the trade deficit, and grow the economy,” <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/Nvidia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Nvidia</span></a> said in a statement.</p><p>> Nvidia has also said that it does not make surveillance systems or software, does not work with police in China and has not designed its H20 <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/AI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AI</span></a> chip for police surveillance.</p><p>> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/Intel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Intel</span></a>, which partnered with a Chinese fingerprinting company as recently as last year, has said the company follows export control policies, and did not address details of its deal with the U.S. government.</p><p>> “The U.S. government’s investment is a passive ownership, with no board representation, governance or information rights,” Intel said in a statement.</p><p>> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/AMD" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AMD</span></a> did not respond. The White House and the Commerce and State departments also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.</p><p>> The AP investigation was based on dozens of open record requests, hundreds of pages of congressional testimony, lobbying disclosures and dozens of interviews with current and former Chinese and American executives, politicians, and former federal officials.</p><p>> Under the cloud services loophole, Chinese companies barred from accessing cutting-edge chips can use <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/Microsoft" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Microsoft</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/Azure" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Azure</span></a> or Amazon Web Services overseas instead to train their AI models. Microsoft and <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/AWS" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AWS</span></a> also both advertise the capacity to store video <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/surveillance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>surveillance</span></a> footage on their <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/cloud" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>cloud</span></a>  services for Chinese customers.</p>