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Eric Schmidt Warned Against China’s AI Industry. Emails Show He Also Sought Connections to It
Transparency advocates say that Eric Schmidt's pursuit of “personal” connections with AI companies in China represents a concerning conflict of interest.
The 2019 email communications, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a nonprofit research initiative that tracks tech industry influence, show staff at Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic venture, asking NSCAI employees to help identify “possible engagements [Schmidt] might have on AI, in a personal capacity.” The names are redacted, but an NSCAI staff member replies, “Sure thing, happy to help out.” One person is tasked with coming up with “interesting companies in Beijing.” In 2017, Hillhouse led a funding round of $55 million in the Chinese AI company Yitu, a startup that would soon be repeatedly blacklisted by the US government for allegedly supplying face recognition technology used for surveillance in China. The emails obtained by TTP mention that Schmidt would be accompanied on his trip by Henry Kissinger, the former national security adviser and US secretary of state who famously sought closer ties with China in the 1970s, during President Nixon’s administration.
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