US sanctions Chinese AI firms over Uyghur rights abuses

The US Department of Commerce ввело sanctions against 14 Chinese technology companies for human rights abuses against the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang. American firms are barred from doing business with them without a special license.

Among the sanctions list is the facial-recognition technology developer DeepGlint. In 2014 the startup привлек $17 million from the American investment fund Sequoia Capital.

The company’s technology gained international recognition thanks to the facial-recognition vendor test conducted by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. In 2021, DeepGlint claimed the highest accuracy in the test, which it actively used in marketing.

According to media reports, in 2018 DeepGlint together with Chinese authorities founded a facial-recognition laboratory in the capital of Xinjiang.

The Department of Commerce sanctioned subsidiaries of military contractors Xinjiang Lianhai Chuangzhi and Chengdu Xiwu Security System Alliance. According to their websites and academic reports, they provide equipment and services for surveillance. For example, Xinjiang Lianhai Chuangzhi создала an AI-based checkpoint system that tracks Uyghurs moving between cities.

Leon Technology, which provides surveillance services, was also listed. Until 2019 it was controlled by the Chinese AI giant SenseTime. However, after the disclosure of information about the use of its technologies against the Uyghur minority, the startup продал its 51% stake in it.

In May, a programmer-engineer described testing of an emotion-recognition system on Uyghurs in police stations in Xinjiang.

In March, Facebook blocked a group of Chinese hackers who used a surveillance platform monitoring Uyghur journalists and activists.

In December 2020, the Chinese IT firm Alibaba admitted that Chinese authorities used its facial-recognition technology to identify the Uyghur minority.

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