G42 caught in crossfire of US-China trade war: IHC-backed tech and AI company G42 “categorically denied” in a statement last week that it has ties to the Chinese government. The company was responding to a New York Times report and a letter from a US congressional committee that claimed it was working with the Chinese military. The committee asked the US Commerce Department to consider levying trade restrictions on G42, the NYT quoted US lawmakers as saying.
G42’s response: “As an international commercial enterprise, G42 has established a worldwide network of partnerships over time, including some Chinese companies. Such engagements are standard practice among global technology companies,” the statement said. “In the field of advanced technologies, we have pursued a commercial strategy since 2022 to fully align with our US partners and not to engage with Chinese companies,” G42’s press release read.
Background: The US has been restricting trade with China in advanced fields including artificial intelligence, chipmaking and design, and quantum computing. Relations between the two are so touchy that it has taken a non-government intermediary to broker talks between US companies and Chinese experts to have secret talks on AI safety, the Financial Times reports.