US venture capital firms are investing in Chinese AI startups

US venture capital firms are investing in Chinese AI startups

New York, 7/21/2023

The US House of Representatives Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party has expressed „serious concern“ about investments by US venture capital firms in Chinese AI and technology startups. The letters, authored by committee members Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois), were sent to GGV Capital, GST Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures and Walden International.

Lawmakers are particularly concerned about VC firm investments in AI, quantum and semiconductor companies in China.

Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi identified numerous investments linked to human rights abuses and the strengthening of the Chinese military. Some of the companies funded are linked to the profiling and detention of the Uyghur minority group in China, they wrote.

For example, Qualcomm Ventures made over a dozen investments in Chinese AI companies between 2015 and 2021, including SenseTime, which has been publicly linked to tracking and profiling the Uyghur population.

Tiger Global Management and Silver Lake, while not mentioned in the letter, also invested in SenseTime ahead of its 2021 IPO, according to PitchBook data.