Leading Republicans have called on President Biden's Commerce Department to investigate whether Microsoft's China operations pose a national security risk. This comes after The Post highlighted on Capitol Hill concerns that big tech companies are becoming too cozy with the Chinese government as it develops AI technology.
A previously unreported scathing letter from Texas Rep. Pat Fallon on February 12th was addressed to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, who is based in China. He was one of several U.S. officials whose emails were brazenly hacked after a group called Microsoft infiltrated Microsoft's systems. Last year's Outlook account.
Fallon cited a Post report from December in which US lawmakers warned Microsoft against working too closely with China. Executive Brad Smith raised eyebrows when he said Microsoft wanted to “actively participate in the digital transformation of China's economy.”
“What we're trying to understand is whether and how Microsoft is used extensively across the U.S. federal government. [People’s Republic of China]'s government and its compliance with intrusive Chinese laws threatens the national and economic security of the United States,” Fallon said in the letter.
“No U.S. company should play a role in supporting the Chinese government,” the letter added. “It is important to deter such efforts and carefully scrutinize China's broader activities.
Microsoft faces calls to exit China, where it has about 10,000 employees and multiple research institutes, as critics warn that the Chinese Communist Party will force companies to divulge sensitive data and trade secrets. It's increasing. Those concerns helped pass a House bill that would force Beijing-based ByteDance to sell TikTok within six months or face a U.S. ban.
Microsoft is a notable outlier compared to Big Tech rivals such as Google and Meta, which have retreated from the country to avoid censorship from the Chinese Communist Party and increased scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the company “has long provided governments around the world with the ability to inspect limited portions of their source code to ensure they do not contain backdoors.”
“This is only done in a controlled environment where no code can be recorded or extracted, and our source code is always maintained, so our customers' security does not depend on it being kept secret.” the person in charge said. “This access is not a response to the laws of China or any other country and is provided broadly by us, except where prohibited by sanctions.”
Microsoft has certain policies for disclosing software vulnerabilities that are not tailored to specific countries. The company “has never provided China with access to our source code or other information about vulnerabilities,” the spokesperson added.
Representatives from the Department of Commerce did not respond to requests for comment.
Fallon said that even though Microsoft holds an “85% share of the U.S. government office productivity software market,” it maintains a “longstanding business” in China and is subject to strict local laws. He pointed out that he had received it.
“To comply with China's national cybersecurity law, Microsoft must provide the Chinese government with access to its source code,” he said.
The Texas Republican lawmaker pointed to the hack of Raimondo's email account and asked what the Commerce Department could do “to reduce reliance on Microsoft's software and cybersecurity capabilities, which have created easy-to-break single points of failure.” I asked for an answer as to whether or not they had done so.
Fallon asked Raimondo to explain what steps the Commerce Department has taken to hold Microsoft accountable for its cybersecurity failures.
The Republican lawmaker also demanded that Raimondo explain what export controls are in place to “effectively regulate Microsoft's operations” in China to protect U.S. interests.
Mr. Fallon asked Mr. Raimondo to submit a written response to address his concerns. The lawmaker told the Post he has not yet received a response.
“Given new cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and all the moves to threaten our neighbors and allies, there is no reason to give Communist China any more openings to undermine U.S. national security,” Fallon said in a statement Friday. No,” he said. “This also applies to American companies operating within China. The United States needs assurances that it can counter asymmetric threats, especially in the area of artificial intelligence.”
“Last month, I raised this specific point in a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, but I have yet to receive a response,” the statement continued. “This comes as my colleagues on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and I have launched our own effort to examine the vulnerability of potential threats against the Chinese Communist Party within the federal government.”
“A good response from the Secretary. Raimondo will make it clear that the Biden administration takes an increasingly emboldened Communist China seriously,” Fallon added.
As The Post reported, Smith's December trip appears to directly contradict comments Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made just a few weeks ago during an appearance on CNBC on Nov. 15. was.
Nadella downplayed the company's work with the Chinese government, saying at the time that Microsoft is “primarily focused on global markets outside of China.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) said Microsoft “should know better” and Congress “should block such partnerships,” while the chairman of the House Select Committee on China warned Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.). Microsoft claimed that the Chinese Communist Party “will use AI for sinister technological totalitarian purposes.”
The New York Times reported in January that Microsoft executives were discussing shutting down the company's AI research lab in Beijing due to increased scrutiny from Congress.
