<div><div data-journey-hook="client-content" data-testid="BodyWrapper"><div><p><span>In November 2019,</span> the US government’s National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI), an influential body chaired by former Google CEO and executive chairman Eric Schmidt, warned that China was using <a href="https://www.wired.com/tag/artificial-intelligence/">artificial intelligence</a> to “advance an autocratic agenda.â€</p><p>Just two months earlier, Schmidt was also seeking potential personal connections to China’s AI industry on a visit to Beijing, newly disclosed emails reveal. Separately, tax filings show that a nonprofit private foundation overseen by Schmidt and his wife contributed to a fund that feeds into a private equity firm that has made investments in numerous Chinese tech firms, including those in AI.</p><p>When the NSCAI <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/china-rises-us-builds-bigger-role-ai/">issued its full findings</a> in 2021, Schmidt and the NSCAI’s vice chairman said <a data-event-click="{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https://reports.nscai.gov/final-report/chair-and-vice-chair-letter&quot;}" data-offer-url="https://reports.nscai.gov/final-report/chair-and-vice-chair-letter" href="https://reports.nscai.gov/final-report/chair-and-vice-chair-letter" rel="noopener" target="_blank">in a statement</a> that “China’s plans, resources, and progress should concern all Americans,â€ and warned that “China’s domestic use of AI is a chilling precedent for anyone around the world who cherishes individual liberty.â€</p><p>The 2019 email communications, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the <a data-event-click="{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/&quot;}" data-offer-url="https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/" href="https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Tech Transparency Project (TTP)</a>, a nonprofit research initiative that tracks tech industry influence, show staff at Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic venture, asking NSCAI employees to help identify “possible engagements [Schmidt] might have on AI, in a personal capacity.â€ The names are redacted, but an NSCAI staff member replies, “Sure thing, happy to help out.â€ One person is tasked with coming up with “interesting companies in Beijing.â€</p><p>It is unclear what meetings, if any, occurred in China as a result of the discussions, or whether such meetings might have translated into business dealings. However, the messages add detail to what appears to be a complicated relationship between Schmidt and America’s chief geopolitical rival. They also reflect the paradox of rivalry and interdependence that characterizes the dynamics between the world's two most powerful nations.</p><p><a data-event-click="{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/googles-flights-show-decade-long-pursuit-china&quot;}" data-offer-url="https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/googles-flights-show-decade-long-pursuit-china" href="https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/googles-flights-show-decade-long-pursuit-china" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Flight records</a> previously obtained by TTP show that a Gulfstream flew from Google’s home hanger in November 2019. A day later, press reports suggest Schmidt, who was in China for the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20191101000000*/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2019-11-04/bloomberg-s-new-economy-forum-in-beijing-day-one">dined with Kai-Fu Lee</a>, ex-head of Google China and a prominent Chinese entrepreneur and investor. The pair told a Bloomberg reporter at the time that they were “just catching up.â€</p><p><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/463460261/202333199349104368/full">Tax filings for 2019</a> show that the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, a nonprofit overseen by the billionaire and his wife, had invested almost $17 million in a fund that feeds into an investment firm then called Hillhouse Capital, which invests in a number of prominent Chinese tech companies, among other businesses. In October 2016, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1D00FR/">reported</a> that Hillhouse launched an AI investment fund with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a state-run institution. In 2017, Hillhouse led a funding round of $55 million in the Chinese AI company Yitu, a startup that would soon be repeatedly <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/trumps-salvo-against-china-targets-ai-firms/">blacklisted by the US government</a> for allegedly supplying <a data-event-click="{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0538&quot;}" data-offer-url="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0538" href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0538" rel="noopener" target="_blank">face recognition technology used for surveillance</a> in China.</p><p>The <a data-event-click="{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https://assets.foleon.com/eu-central-1/de-uploads-7e3kk3/48187/nscai_full_report_digital.04d6b124173c.pdf&quot;}" data-offer-url="https://assets.foleon.com/eu-central-1/de-uploads-7e3kk3/48187/nscai_full_report_digital.04d6b124173c.pdf" href="https://assets.foleon.com/eu-central-1/de-uploads-7e3kk3/48187/nscai_full_report_digital.04d6b124173c.pdf" rel="noopener" target="_blank">final NSCAI report</a> includes a section on promoting “International Digital Democracyâ€ initiatives. It provides a handful of suggestions for how to “develop, promote, and fundâ€ digital ecosystems, including partnerships with the private sector—citing Hillhouse as a positive example.</p></div></div></div>