Chinese AI project under review at MIT after US blacklists tech unicorn SenseTime

Hong Kong-based SenseTime, the world’s most valuable AI start-up, is among eight hi-tech companies blacklisted over alleged human rights violations

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Students walk past the “Great Dome” atop Building 10 on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school says it will review all existing relationships with organisations added to the US Department of Commerce’s Entity List. Photo: AP

Published: 3:36pm, 9 Oct 2019Updated: 11:07am, 25 Nov 2019

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said it will review the school’s relationship with SenseTime Group, an artificial intelligence start-up that was among eight Chinese companies blacklisted by the US this week over alleged human rights violations.

The relationship, described by the university last year as an effort to “confront some of the world’s greatest challenges”, adds to a series of business arrangements that have drawn scrutiny toward MIT this year.

“MIT has long had a robust export controls function that pays careful attention to export control regulations and compliance,” a spokeswoman wrote in an email. “MIT will review all existing relationships with organisations added to the US Department of Commerce’s Entity List, and modify any interactions, as necessary.”

Several professors involved in the alliance did not respond to requests for comment.

Tang Xiao’ou, co-founder of artificial intelligence start-up SenseTime and a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Photo: Handout

“We are deeply disappointed with this decision by the US Department of Commerce,” a spokeswoman for SenseTime said in a statement. “We will work closely with all relevant authorities to fully understand and resolve the situation.”

The circumstances surrounding the blacklist are similar to a controversy at MIT earlier this year with two other Chinese companies, Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp. They were among the first Chinese businesses targeted by the Trump administration.