Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant that has been barred from 5G infrastructure in Canada due to national security risks, has provided multimillion-dollar funding to an Artificial Intelligence (AI) researcher for establishing a new research institution in Alberta.
University of Alberta computer science professor Richard Sutton is launching the Openmind Research Institute (ORI) with $4.8 million in funding from Huawei, as first reported by
Globe and Mail. The institute, set to open on Nov. 24 in Edmonton, will support researchers following the
Alberta Plan, a 12-step guide co-authored by Mr. Sutton aimed at achieving human-level artificial intelligence (AI). The institute has no affiliation with the University of Alberta.
In 2022,
Canada barred Huawei from participating in the construction of its 5G wireless infrastructure, in line with actions taken by its Five Eyes intelligence allies due to shared national security concerns. Huawei is
deeply linked with the Chinese military. Its founder, Ren Zhengfei, previously served as the director of an information engineering department within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
In 2020, the Pentagon listed Huawei among 20 Chinese companies being backed by the Chinese military. In that same year, the U.S. government
rolled out similar measures to keep Hauwei out of its critical telecommunications infrastructure.
On Sept. 25, the House of Commons science committee
heard testimonies from a China expert on the significant risks of Canadian universities and research institutes’ partnership with Chinese military-backed entities like Huawei. Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a senior fellow at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs of the University of Ottawa, specifically named Huawei as among several Chinese companies that have worked with the Chinese military “which also design and sell equipment to repress the Uyghurs and others.”
The Epoch Times reached out to both Mr. Sutton and Huawei Canada for comment but didn’t hear back by publication time.
Security Implications
Randy Goebel, a professor in the University of Alberta’s computer science department slated to serve on Openmind’s governing board, alluded to geopolitics and criticized the United States in his response to The Epoch Times.“The challenge with interested media this days is that the typical AI research story is deeply driven by geo-political paranoia, so I’m not sure how to convey the high road intent of Openmind’s research mandate?” he said in an email statement on Nov. 24.
He further stated, “The reality of security concerns is that the [United States] is one of the nations most prone to spying, and is hypocritically critical of anyone’s involvement with anyone from China, individuals, or organizations. Canadian politicians find it easy to capitulate, even without any understanding.”
“There has never been any documented case of Huawei being a security concern; in fact, just the opposite, the USA has broken into Huawei computers.”
Mr. Goebel didn’t respond to a follow-up email from The Epoch Times inquiring about these connections between Huawei and the PLA.
In a
2019 report, Christopher Balding, a former associate professor at Fulbright University Vietnam, analyzed a unique database of curricula vitae leaked from Chinese recruitment websites and found that about 100 Huawei employees had links to the Chinese military or intelligence agencies. In
one example, the report pointed to a Huawei employee who was also hired at a PLA institute. Based on his CV, the report suggested that this individual’s work falls under a PLA branch that oversees “Chinese military space, cyber, and electronic warfare capabilities.”
Opposition
In addition to Huawei’s connections with the Chinese military, critics have voiced concerns about partnerships with the company, citing both its ties to human rights violations and that such collaborations could potentially disrupt Canada’s relationships with its Western allies.
On Sept. 25, Ms. McCuaig-Johnston
testified before the House of Commons science committee on the substantial risks associated with Canadian universities and research institutes partnering with entities like Huawei that are backed by the Chinese military. Specifically, she highlighted Huawei’s involvement in designing and selling equipment used for human rights repression against the Uyghurs and other minority groups in China.
Following the Globe report on the launch of Openmind in Alberta, Conservative MP Michael Chong expressed concerns about its security implications on
X, formerly known as Twitter. He referenced assessments by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, highlighting Beijing as a threat to Canada’s national security and intellectual property in AI research.
Mr. Chong rejected the notion that Openmind’s commitment to open-source research and forgoing intellectual property rights means it doesn’t benefit Huawei and, consequently, the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Mr. Sutton told the Globe that the institute will not pursue intellectual property rights, and said that Huawei made a similar commitment.
“Just because this new Alberta-based institute won’t file any patents [and] will keep its research ‘open source’ doesn’t mean this arrangement doesn’t benefit Huawei - [and] in turn the PRC,” Mr. Chong wrote.
Additionally, Mr. Chong pointed out that partnership with Chinese entities could increase challenges for Canada in working with its democratic allies, such as AUKUS, a security agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States aimed at developing advanced capabilities between the three countries against China.
“How does this fit with Canada’s stated intention to join AUKUS’s 2nd pillar, a multi-decade, multi-billion plan by AUS, UK & US to fund research in AI, quantum computing [and] cyber?” Mr. Chong wrote on X. “How will this work if Canada has PRC-sourced AI funding proximate to our universities?”
Restrictions
In June, the House of Commons passed a motion, tasking the science committee to investigate government grants provided to institutions that engage in research collaborations with China in sensitive areas such as photonics, artificial intelligence, quantum theory, biopharmaceuticals, and aerospace.
The motion specifically asked the committee to look into allegations presented in a January report by U.S. strategic intelligence company Strider Technologies Inc., suggesting that around
50 Canadian universities have been collaborating with a Chinese military scientific institution, the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT), for academic research in these sensitive areas.
News of this collaboration prompted Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne to pledge to ramp up scrutiny for future partnerships. In
a Feb. 14 statement, the minister banned funding to research on sensitive topics conducted in collaboration with a university or research institute affiliated with a foreign actor or its military and national defence bodies.
In addition to looking into the issue involving NUDT, the motion asked the committee to study intellectual property transfers to Huawei. Conservative MP Dan Mazier, who introduced the motion, expressed concerns about Canadian institutions’ continued partnership with Huawei, despite government prohibition of its participating in the 5G network development.
In May, several Canadian universities announced
plans to terminate or phase out their research collaborations with the Chinese regime earlier this year. However, in October, the House science committee
heard testimonies that new patent applications have indicated Canadian universities’ continued collaboration with Huawei.
“I discovered that as recently as a few weeks ago, there have been new patent applications published, listing Huawei as owner, with Canadian university researchers as inventors, including those from the University of Toronto, UBC, Queens, Ottawa, McMaster, and Western,” testified Jim Hinton, an intellectual property lawyer and assistant professor at Western University.
Cathy He and Frank Fang contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated an affiliation between the Openmind Research Institute and the University of Alberta. The new institute has no affiliation with the University of Alberta. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
