By Sarah E. Needleman and Rob Copeland
President Trump said the U.S. government would look into
national-security concerns raised by billionaire investor and
Facebook Inc. board member Peter Thiel about Google's ties to
China.
Hours later at a Senate hearing, Google confirmed for the first
time that it had killed its controversial plans for a censored
search engine in China dubbed "Dragonfly."
The statement by Mr. Trump, tweeted Tuesday morning, came after
Mr. Thiel, in a keynote speech Sunday at the National Conservatism
Conference in Washington, D.C., called for the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency to investigate
Alphabet Inc.'s Google unit, which he claimed is working with
China's government instead of the U.S. military.
"Billionaire Tech Investor Peter Thiel believes Google should be
investigated for treason," Mr. Trump said in the tweet, adding "The
Trump Administration will take a look!"
Several hours later, in remarks to reporters at a White House
cabinet meeting, Mr. Trump said he is encouraging Attorney General
William Barr to look into the allegation and see "if there's any
truth to it." A representative from the Justice Department couldn't
be reached for comment.
Mr. Thiel, an influential venture capitalist and co-founder of
PayPal Holdings Inc., has long stood out in Silicon Valley as its
most prominent conservative. He backed Mr. Trump's presidential
campaign and later served as an adviser on his White House
transition team.
In an interview Monday with Fox News Channel's Tucker Carlson,
Mr. Thiel suggested Chinese intelligence agents are likely to have
infiltrated Google as it works on an artificial-intelligence
project in the country. Mr. Thiel, in the interview, didn't offer
evidence that backed his claims.
"If you say you're building a Manhattan Project for AI, don't
you think that would attract the interest of foreign intelligence
agents?" Mr. Thiel said, referring to the World War II-era project
that led to the development of the world's first atomic bombs.
"As we have said before, we do not work with the Chinese
military," Google said in a statement. A Google representative
declined to comment on whether the company works with the Chinese
government.
Mr. Thiel's explosive remarks about a Silicon Valley rival
caught some people close to him by surprise.
Mr. Thiel, who describes himself as libertarian, hasn't offered
much criticism of Google before, publicly or privately, say two
associates who have spoken to him recently. They said they didn't
recall him ever mentioning the search giant's possible ties to
China. Mr. Thiel didn't respond to requests for comment.
Google made a major retreat from China in 2010 when it pulled
its search engine from the market in protest against the
government's efforts to censor content and attempts to hack into
email accounts of human-rights activists. Yet like Facebook and
other tech giants, Google has tried to maintain a foothold in China
in case that massive market ever opens up for business more
broadly. It opened an artificial-intelligence lab in Beijing in
2017, a move aimed at attracting the country's tech talent.
Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai has said the company has
cautiously approached ramping up business in the country. In
October, he said plans for a Chinese search engine were at a "very
early" stage and that Google hadn't committed to proceeding with
the project.
At a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Google policy head Karan Bhatia
said the project was officially shelved. "Yes, we have terminated
that," Mr. Bhatia said in response to a question.
"I think that's news," said Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) "I'm
delighted to see that is canceled."
The Trump administration's trade dispute with China and its
tougher scrutiny of companies like Huawei Technologies Co. on
national-security grounds have made Google's activities pertaining
to China all the more fraught.
Mr. Trump's comments came only hours before executives from
Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Facebook and Google were to appear on
Capitol Hill for a range of hearings. Google's parent and other
tech heavyweights have been grappling in recent months with
increased scrutiny in Washington over such matters as privacy,
security and competitive practices.
On Tuesday, a House panel examined whether their business
behavior is stifling competition while a Senate panel heard
comments from a Google executive and critics of the company on
whether the search engine engages in censorship.
Earlier this year, Mr. Trump said Google's CEO had expressed the
company's commitment to the U.S. military and not the Chinese
military during a White House meeting. The remarks followed
allegations made by Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) that Google was
working indirectly or even counter to U.S. interests in its efforts
to increase business in China.
The claim, made at a hearing in March, was reiterated in support
by Marine Gen. Joe Dunford.
Last year, Google decided not to seek renewal of a Pentagon
cloud-computing contract that had drawn criticism from some
employees. The company also said it wouldn't allow its
artificial-intelligence products to be used in any military
weapons.
Speaking on Fox Business Network on Monday, Larry Kudlow,
director of the National Economic Council, said he doesn't believe
Google is treasonous. "I meet with Google's CEO on a regular basis.
I think they're working for America, for our military, not for
China," he said.
"Peter Thiel's a good man. He's been a great supporter of the
Trump administration. He's a very smart guy," Mr. Kudlow said. "I'm
just not sure where he's going on this, so I have my doubts, but
one never knows."
Michael C. Bender contributed to this article.
Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com and Rob
Copeland at rob.copeland@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 16, 2019 18:58 ET (22:58 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024