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> 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 wor

> 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.

lazyeye 7y ago
I think that's why he used the word "likely". It's hardly a stretch. Let's not be naive. If the Google research in China is anything significant I'd say it's almost a certainty.
- joshuamorton 7y ago
  How is applied ai for weapons (maven) at all similar to an academic research institute that focuses on fundamental ml research in areas like NLP and ai for education?[0] [0]: https://ai.google/research/join-us/beijing/ https://ai.google/research/join-us/beijing/
  - taiwanboy 7y ago
    If you believe that the Chinese government will never use the AI talents/research incubated by google for military usages, then you also must believe when Beijing proclaimed they would never weaponize South China Sea, and has never stolen US technologies.
    - joshuamorton 7y ago
      So does this mean that us universities who accept Chinese Nationals for phds similarly infiltrated and similarly aiding the Chinese military?
      - taiwanboy 7y ago
        According to the government, yes. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/more-restrictive-us-policy-chinese-graduate-student-visas-raises-alarm https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/more-restrictive-us-...
      - mc32 7y ago
        That’s basic espionage. China isn’t the only one that does that. Any competent power who thinks they can siphon know how and make use of it economically or militarily does do this. Some with whom we have ties may not have to by virtue of us sharing tech with them.
    - dang 7y ago
      You've been using HN primarily for nationalistic battle. We ban accounts that do that, regardless of what they're battling for or against. HN is for people, stories, and conversations that are animated by curiosity. Political battle is the opposite. It is destructive of the subtler and lighter things HN exists for. What happens to a garden when tanks roll in? A garden cannot be a battlefield. If you would please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and take the spirit of the site to heart, we'd be grateful. I know that the topic you care about is important and the feelings are strong and genuine, but those are actually reasons why we have to moderate more, not less—or else it and things like it will consume the site completely.
      - taiwanboy 7y ago
        Fair enough
      - kpU8efre7r 7y ago
        Attack ideas not people. The comment was in line with the article. Remove the article/post if it will prompt a comment section that the overlords find displeasing.
        dang 7y ago
        In this case the issue is not an individual comment but a pattern of site usage.
  - lazyeye 7y ago
    I'm sure China would be very interested in anything that advances AI in any direction. The motives can be economic too. Also military people need to be educated and trained.
hourislate 7y ago
I worked for one of the largest Corporations in technology back in 2005. We opened a facility in China for manufacturing and another smallish one for R&D. Our corporate network was constantly probed from these locations. There were several attempts to access financial data and other sensitive areas of our network. Whenever ever we brought the perpetrators forward to explain their actions, they immediately resigned without saying a word (would just walk out). Even the factory managers would remain quiet. It came to our attention many of the employees were part of the PLA, planted on the inside. I believe it is impossible to operate a facility in China without having the PLA operatives on the inside. It's part of the risk companies take to do business in China.
inflatableDodo 7y ago
Business as usual for the millionaires funded by billionaires then.

lazyeye 7y ago

I think that's why he used the word "likely". It's hardly a stretch. Let's not be naive. If the Google research in China is anything significant I'd say it's almost a certainty.

joshuamorton 7y ago
How is applied ai for weapons (maven) at all similar to an academic research institute that focuses on fundamental ml research in areas like NLP and ai for education?[0] [0]: https://ai.google/research/join-us/beijing/ https://ai.google/research/join-us/beijing/
- taiwanboy 7y ago
  If you believe that the Chinese government will never use the AI talents/research incubated by google for military usages, then you also must believe when Beijing proclaimed they would never weaponize South China Sea, and has never stolen US technologies.
  - joshuamorton 7y ago
    So does this mean that us universities who accept Chinese Nationals for phds similarly infiltrated and similarly aiding the Chinese military?
    - taiwanboy 7y ago
      According to the government, yes. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/more-restrictive-us-policy-chinese-graduate-student-visas-raises-alarm https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/more-restrictive-us-...
    - mc32 7y ago
      That’s basic espionage. China isn’t the only one that does that. Any competent power who thinks they can siphon know how and make use of it economically or militarily does do this. Some with whom we have ties may not have to by virtue of us sharing tech with them.
  - dang 7y ago
    You've been using HN primarily for nationalistic battle. We ban accounts that do that, regardless of what they're battling for or against. HN is for people, stories, and conversations that are animated by curiosity. Political battle is the opposite. It is destructive of the subtler and lighter things HN exists for. What happens to a garden when tanks roll in? A garden cannot be a battlefield. If you would please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and take the spirit of the site to heart, we'd be grateful. I know that the topic you care about is important and the feelings are strong and genuine, but those are actually reasons why we have to moderate more, not less—or else it and things like it will consume the site completely.
    - taiwanboy 7y ago
      Fair enough
    - kpU8efre7r 7y ago
      Attack ideas not people. The comment was in line with the article. Remove the article/post if it will prompt a comment section that the overlords find displeasing.
      - dang 7y ago
        In this case the issue is not an individual comment but a pattern of site usage.
- lazyeye 7y ago
  I'm sure China would be very interested in anything that advances AI in any direction. The motives can be economic too. Also military people need to be educated and trained.

hourislate 7y ago

I worked for one of the largest Corporations in technology back in 2005. We opened a facility in China for manufacturing and another smallish one for R&D. Our corporate network was constantly probed from these locations. There were several attempts to access financial data and other sensitive areas of our network. Whenever ever we brought the perpetrators forward to explain their actions, they immediately resigned without saying a word (would just walk out). Even the factory managers would remain quiet. It came to our attention many of the employees were part of the PLA, planted on the inside. I believe it is impossible to operate a facility in China without having the PLA operatives on the inside. It's part of the risk companies take to do business in China.

inflatableDodo 7y ago

Business as usual for the millionaires funded by billionaires then.