US seeks to blacklist Chinese artificial intelligence firms

WASHINGTON – The United States is blacklisting a group of Chinese tech companies that develop facial recognition and other artificial intelligence technology that the U.S. says is being used to repress China’s Muslim minority groups.

A move Monday by the U.S. Commerce Department seeks to put the companies on a so-called Entity List for acting contrary to American foreign policy interests.

The blacklist effectively bars U.S. firms from selling technology to the Chinese companies without government approval.

The blacklisted companies include Hikvision, a global provider of video surveillance technology. Prominent Chinese AI firms such as Sense Time, Megvii and iFlytek are also on the list.

The Chinese embassy and several of the targeted companies didn’t immediately return requests for comment Monday. The affected list also includes some regional government agencies in China.