Microsoft’s AI Collaboration with ‘Rival’ China Raises Concerns Among US Lawmakers

United States lawmakers warn the tech giant Microsoft against developing close connections with China as it advances AI technology. At the same time, CEO Brad Smith has recently honored further collaboration with the United States rival.

In a meeting with China’s Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao, this month, CEO Brad allegedly stated that the company was designed to “vigorously participate in the digital transformation of China’s economy.”

China expressed its expectation that Microsoft will take a “constructive role” in promoting AI collaboration during the conference, which focused on diplomatic matters and AI.

Members of Congress from the US and other critics were alarmed by Smith’s visit because they believed Microsoft’s decades-long presence in China, employing over 10,000 people, could threaten national security.

Congress is being encouraged to sever the association by Sen Josh Hawley, who asked Smith whether Microsoft was “too intertwined” with China during a high-profile confrontation at a Senate hearing on artificial intelligence in September.

“Microsoft should understand better. The Chinese Communist Party wants AI dominance so that it can impair and defeat United States capabilities, seize Taiwan, and make the world less secure,” Hawley told the New York Post. “No US company should be wined and dined into thinking otherwise. And Congress should block partnerships like this.”