China

Prolific startup accelerator Y Combinator has abandoned plans to establish a branch of the program in China. The company cites a general change in strategy, but a deafening silence on the complexity and controversy of working with China right now suggests there’s more at play. In a short blog post, YC leadership explained that “as we worked to establish YC China, we had a change in leadership,” viz. the replacement of CEO Sam Altman with Geoff Ralston in May. This apparently led to a complete about-face on YC’s China strategy. Qi Lu, hired a little more than a year ago to lead the YC China effort, is departing to run his own program, MiraclePlus. And Chinese companies will still be welcome at Y Combinator “— but as part of our U.S. program.” Y Combinator is launching a startup program in China A Y Combinator representative confirmed that it has no involvement with MiraclePlus or Qi Lu whatsoever, and that the company will no longer have any … [Read more...] about Y Combinator abruptly shutters YC China

U.S. accelerator Y Combinator is expanding to China after it announced the hiring of former Microsoft and Baidu executive Qi Lu who will develop a standalone startup program that runs on Chinese soil. Shanghai-born Lu spent 11 years with Yahoo and eight years with Microsoft before a short spell with Baidu, where he was COO and head of the firm’s AI research division. Now he becomes founding CEO of YC China while he’s also stepping into the role of Head of YC Research. YC will also expand its research team with an office in Seattle, where Lu has plenty of links. There’s no immediate timeframe for when YC will launch its China program, which represents its first global expansion, but YC President Sam Altman told TechCrunch in an interview that the program will be based in Beijing once it is up and running. Altman said Lu will use his network and YC’s growing presence in China — it ran its first ‘Startup School’ event in Beijing … [Read more...] about Y Combinator is launching a startup program in China

Soon, hundreds of millions of mobile users in China will have direct access to an augmented reality smartphone platform on their smartphones. Baidu, China’s largest search engine, unveiled an AR platform today called DuSee that will allow China’s mobile users the opportunity to test out smartphone augmented reality on their existing devices. The company also detailed that they plan to integrate the technology directly into their flagship apps, including the highly popular Mobile Baidu search app. “DuSee will enable our customers to deliver a delightful real-time AR experience to the millions of people who use Baidu‘s mobile apps every day, thus quickly bringing AR to a huge population,” Zeng Hua, Baidu’s Key Account Department Senior Director said in a statement. A press release from the company seemed to vaguely reference the successes of the type of AR made popular by apps like Pokemon GO, a title that has … [Read more...] about Baidu shows off DuSee, an augmented reality platform for China’s mobile users

What just happened? A new report claims that the CIA has accused Chinese tech giant Huawei of receiving funding from the People’s Liberation Army, China’s National Security Commission, and a third branch of the nation’s state intelligence network. According to British newspaper The Times, which cites a UK source, the Central Intelligence Agency told the country’s intelligence services about Huawei allegedly receiving funding from Chinese state security. The other Five Eyes nations (Australia, Canada, and New Zealand) were also informed. According to the Times, the CIA “awarded a strong but not iron-cast classification of certainty” to its findings. The US has spent years accusing Huawei of spying at the behest of the Chinese government, though it has never provided any concrete evidence. America has asked its allies not to use the firm’s 5G equipment in their networks, threatening to withhold intel from those that do. While some countries, … [Read more...] about CIA reportedly says Huawei is funded by Chinese state security

Members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter this week to Google CEO Sundar Pichai slamming the search giant's hiring of Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security official who'd publicly defended President Donald Trump's travel ban. The letter, dated Nov. 19, was signed by the chairs of three House caucuses representing racial minorities: Rep. Joaquin Castro of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Karen Bass of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Rep. Judy Chu of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.The lawmakers, all Democrats, said they found Google's hiring of Taylor, who previously served as chief of staff to former DHS secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, "deeply troubling." "We find it alarming when companies choose to reward and hire individuals that have played active roles in implementing cruel policies that target and hurt the communities we represent and Google is no exception," the letter reads. The letter comes as … [Read more...] about Lawmakers chide Google for hiring ex-DHS staffer who defended travel ban