Facebook board member and billionaire investor Peter Thiel has reportedly urged the federal agencies to investigate Google. The internet behemoth is accused of having treasonous ties with the Chinese military, in addition to being infiltrated by Chinese intelligence.
What were Thiel’s allegations?
Thiel is not only one of the most high-profile Trump supporters but is also one of the leaders of Silicon Valley. At the National Conservatism Conference in Washington D.C., Thiel raised a few questions and demanded that it’s high time to probe Google thoroughly.
The concerning questions that got the attention during the conference:
- How many agencies of foreign intelligence are illegally and unofficially a part of the Manhattan Project for AI (Artificial Intelligence), developed by Google?
- What do the senior executives of Google have to say about being infiltrated by Chinese intelligence agents? Rather, do they believe that they have been infiltrated?
- Are the senior management of Google engaged in treacherous activities with the Chinese military because they have been infiltrated, or is there some other reason for it?
- Why is the senior management of Google not working with the U.S. military?
Additionally, Peter Thiel urged on the fact that this probing should be done by federal agencies like the CIA and FBI, who would carry the investigation in a manner that will not quite be gentle.
What gave rise to the concerns against Google?
Peter Thiel is not the only one concerned about Google’s Chine connection. Tucker Carlson, the host of Fox News, as well as Senator Josh Hawley have been pushing the government agencies to take legal actions against some of the biggest tech giants, including Google and Facebook.
Earlier it was reported that Google had been engaged in a project to launch a censored search service in China. This project was not only controversial but also anti-U.S., since it was considered to be China’s attempt to re-enter the web search market of the country after being missing in action for a lot of years. The project, also known as Dragonfly, was subject to protests by several hundred employees, after which the company arguably stopped working on it.
This was in addition to the contract that Google had made with the U.S. Department of Defense. Following its expiry, the company did not renew the contract and lapsed it, which would supposedly help the Pentagon to interpret and analyse drone-made videos using AI.
Google and its executives were not available to comment on these concerns.
