A top Republican lawmaker has urged President Biden’s Commerce Department to probe whether Microsoft’s business in China is a national security risk – after The Post highlighted growing fears on Capitol Hill that the Big Tech giant was getting too cozy with Beijing because it develops AI technology.
A scathing letter by Rep. Pat Fallon of Texas sent on Feb. 12, which has not been previously reported, was addressed to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo – one in all several US officials whose emails were openly hacked after a China-based group breached their Microsoft Outlook accounts last yr.
Fallon cited The Post’s report last December, wherein US lawmakers warned Microsoft against working too closely with China. Executive Brad Smith had raised eyebrows by declaring Microsoft desired to “actively take part in the digital transformation of China’s economy.”
“What we seek to grasp is that if and the way Microsoft’s broad usage across the US federal government, close ties to [People’s Republic of China]’s government and compliance with intrusive PRC laws threatens US national and economic security,” Fallon said within the letter.
“No US company ought to be playing a job in supporting the Chinese government,” the letter added. “It’s critical that any such efforts be stopped, and that broader Chinese operations be fastidiously scrutinized.
Microsoft has faced more calls to exit China – where it has about 10,000 staff and multiple research labs – as critics warn that the Chinese Communist Party will force firms to disclose sensitive data and trade secrets. Those fears helped drive passage of a House bill that will force Beijing-based ByteDance to sell TikTok inside six months or face a US ban.
Microsoft is a notable outlier in comparison with Big Tech rivals corresponding to Google and Meta, which have pulled in a foreign country to avoid the Chinese Communist Party’s censorship and difficult scrutiny from US lawmakers.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the corporate has “long provided governments around the globe ability to examine limited portions of our source code to guarantee themselves it doesn’t contain backdoors.”
“This is finished only in controlled environments where the code can’t be recorded or extracted, and our source code is at all times maintained in order that customer security doesn’t depend upon it staying secret,” the spokesperson said. “This access shouldn’t be a response to any law in China or elsewhere and is something we offer broadly except where prohibited by sanctions.”
Microsoft has a set policy for disclosing software vulnerabilities that shouldn’t be tailored to a selected country. The corporate has “not otherwise provided China with access to our source code or some other details about vulnerabilities,” the spokesperson added.
Representatives for the Commerce Department didn’t return requests for comment.
Fallon noted that Microsoft has maintained its “longstanding business” in China – and is subject to stringent local laws – at the same time as it holds an “85% share within the US government office productivity software market.”
“With a view to comply with China’s National Cybersecurity Law, Microsoft must provide the Chinese government with access to its source code,” the congressman said.
The Texas Republican pointed to the hack of Raimondo’s email account while demanding answers on what the Commerce Department has done “to cut back the reliance on Microsoft’s software and cybersecurity capabilities which have created a single point of failure that may easily be breached.”
Fallon asked Raimondo to clarify what steps the Commerce Department had taken to carry Microsoft accountable for the cybersecurity failure.
The GOP lawmaker also demanded that Raimondo explain what export controls are in place for “effectively regulating Microsoft’s operations” in China to guard US interests.
Fallon asked Raimondo to submit written responses to deal with his concerns. The congressman told The Post he has yet to receive a response.
“With every latest cyberattack on critical infrastructure, and each move to threaten its neighbors and our allies, there isn’t a reason we should always afford Communist China any further openings to weaken American national security,” Fallon said in an announcement on Friday. “This extends to American firms that operate inside China as well. America needs assurances that we will counter asymmetrical threats, particularly within the realm of artificial intelligence.”
“Last month, I raised this specific point in a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, but have yet to receive a response,” the statement continued. “This comes as my colleagues and I on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability have begun our own initiative to review potential threat vulnerabilities inside the federal government to the CCP.”
“A correct response from Sec. Raimondo would clarify that the Biden Administration takes seriously an increasingly emboldened Communist China,” Fallon added.
As The Post reported, Smith’s December trip appeared to directly contradict comments that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made just weeks earlier during a Nov. 15 appearance on CNBC.
On the time, Nadella said Microsoft was “mostly focused on the worldwide market ex-China” and downplayed the corporate’s work with the Chinese government.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said Microsoft should “know higher” and that Congress “should block partnerships like this,” while Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Select Committee on China, warned Microsoft that the Chinese Communist Party “will use AI for evil techno-totalitarian purposes.”
Top Microsoft executives have reportedly debated shutting down the corporate’s AI research lab in Beijing attributable to the mounting Congressional scrutiny, the Recent York Times reported in January.
A top Republican lawmaker has urged President Biden’s Commerce Department to probe whether Microsoft’s business in China is a national security risk – after The Post highlighted growing fears on Capitol Hill that the Big Tech giant was getting too cozy with Beijing because it develops AI technology.
A scathing letter by Rep. Pat Fallon of Texas sent on Feb. 12, which has not been previously reported, was addressed to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo – one in all several US officials whose emails were openly hacked after a China-based group breached their Microsoft Outlook accounts last yr.
Fallon cited The Post’s report last December, wherein US lawmakers warned Microsoft against working too closely with China. Executive Brad Smith had raised eyebrows by declaring Microsoft desired to “actively take part in the digital transformation of China’s economy.”
“What we seek to grasp is that if and the way Microsoft’s broad usage across the US federal government, close ties to [People’s Republic of China]’s government and compliance with intrusive PRC laws threatens US national and economic security,” Fallon said within the letter.
“No US company ought to be playing a job in supporting the Chinese government,” the letter added. “It’s critical that any such efforts be stopped, and that broader Chinese operations be fastidiously scrutinized.
Microsoft has faced more calls to exit China – where it has about 10,000 staff and multiple research labs – as critics warn that the Chinese Communist Party will force firms to disclose sensitive data and trade secrets. Those fears helped drive passage of a House bill that will force Beijing-based ByteDance to sell TikTok inside six months or face a US ban.
Microsoft is a notable outlier in comparison with Big Tech rivals corresponding to Google and Meta, which have pulled in a foreign country to avoid the Chinese Communist Party’s censorship and difficult scrutiny from US lawmakers.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the corporate has “long provided governments around the globe ability to examine limited portions of our source code to guarantee themselves it doesn’t contain backdoors.”
“This is finished only in controlled environments where the code can’t be recorded or extracted, and our source code is at all times maintained in order that customer security doesn’t depend upon it staying secret,” the spokesperson said. “This access shouldn’t be a response to any law in China or elsewhere and is something we offer broadly except where prohibited by sanctions.”
Microsoft has a set policy for disclosing software vulnerabilities that shouldn’t be tailored to a selected country. The corporate has “not otherwise provided China with access to our source code or some other details about vulnerabilities,” the spokesperson added.
Representatives for the Commerce Department didn’t return requests for comment.
Fallon noted that Microsoft has maintained its “longstanding business” in China – and is subject to stringent local laws – at the same time as it holds an “85% share within the US government office productivity software market.”
“With a view to comply with China’s National Cybersecurity Law, Microsoft must provide the Chinese government with access to its source code,” the congressman said.
The Texas Republican pointed to the hack of Raimondo’s email account while demanding answers on what the Commerce Department has done “to cut back the reliance on Microsoft’s software and cybersecurity capabilities which have created a single point of failure that may easily be breached.”
Fallon asked Raimondo to clarify what steps the Commerce Department had taken to carry Microsoft accountable for the cybersecurity failure.
The GOP lawmaker also demanded that Raimondo explain what export controls are in place for “effectively regulating Microsoft’s operations” in China to guard US interests.
Fallon asked Raimondo to submit written responses to deal with his concerns. The congressman told The Post he has yet to receive a response.
“With every latest cyberattack on critical infrastructure, and each move to threaten its neighbors and our allies, there isn’t a reason we should always afford Communist China any further openings to weaken American national security,” Fallon said in an announcement on Friday. “This extends to American firms that operate inside China as well. America needs assurances that we will counter asymmetrical threats, particularly within the realm of artificial intelligence.”
“Last month, I raised this specific point in a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, but have yet to receive a response,” the statement continued. “This comes as my colleagues and I on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability have begun our own initiative to review potential threat vulnerabilities inside the federal government to the CCP.”
“A correct response from Sec. Raimondo would clarify that the Biden Administration takes seriously an increasingly emboldened Communist China,” Fallon added.
As The Post reported, Smith’s December trip appeared to directly contradict comments that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made just weeks earlier during a Nov. 15 appearance on CNBC.
On the time, Nadella said Microsoft was “mostly focused on the worldwide market ex-China” and downplayed the corporate’s work with the Chinese government.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said Microsoft should “know higher” and that Congress “should block partnerships like this,” while Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Select Committee on China, warned Microsoft that the Chinese Communist Party “will use AI for evil techno-totalitarian purposes.”
Top Microsoft executives have reportedly debated shutting down the corporate’s AI research lab in Beijing attributable to the mounting Congressional scrutiny, the Recent York Times reported in January.
