At this point, Huawei is probably toying with the Biden administration because, in addition to introducing its new Kirin 9010, which powers the latest Pura 70 flagship series, the company was recently found to be secretly funding various universities, including Harvard. As for how the money was wired to these organizations, Huawei reportedly employed the services of an independent foundation based in Washington, and it formed an alliance to host a competition for scientists.
Huawei has also been rewarding millions of dollars since 2022, with some top U.S. scientists barred from working with the company
The export ban has done little to impede Huawei’s activities within the U.S., with Bloomberg reporting that the Chinese firm has attracted countless proposals from scientists. The name of the foundation responsible for handing out the funds is Optica, with a Huawei spokesperson stating that the joint competition was created to support global research and promote academic promotion. Optica CEO Liz Rogan has sided with Huawei on this occasion, saying there is nothing unusual about this practice.
She also mentioned that Optica’s entire board was aware of Huawei’s involvement and that everyone agreed to this partnership. As reported by Engadget, Kevin Wolf, a partner at the business law firm Akin, believes that Huawei’s continued funding could result in innovations that will give the company and China an advantage over the United States. James Mulvenon, a defense contractor who has worked on research security issues, believes it is a bad look for such a prestigious research firm to accept money from an organization that has raised multiple national security concerns for the government.
Huawei successfully took advantage of a loophole in the export ban, where funds received for the purposes of research to be published were not included in the fine print of the trade restrictions. It is also strange that Optica and its board were aware of Huawei’s involvement, but the former did not hint that it was the company supplying the $1 million in annual awards to scientists. Some of the top university minds have been banned from working with Huawei, but the report does not mention if the U.S. will take action against Optica.
News Source: Bloomberg
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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