Intel has partnered with multiple Chinese surveillance firms including Uniview, which landed on a sanctions list for “enabling human rights violations, including high-technology surveillance targeted at the general population, Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups,” according to a Forbes report.
Intel’s Chinese-language site also mentions partnerships with Hikvision a major surveillance camera manufacturer that has been heavily sanctioned, as well as Cloudwalk, a facial recognition company which was sanctioned in 2021. These companies have been accused of allegedly enabling human rights violations through surveillance of Uyghurs.
“This kind of collaboration and cyclical innovation has enabled Hikvision to achieve gratifying results in promoting intelligent video surveillance,” Hikvision said in its promotional material for its “Deep Eye” smart camera on Intel’s website. Intel also highlights the use of its Atom processor in Cloudwalk’s Juyan smart cameras, which it says are focused on retail.
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Intel spokesperson Nancy Sanchez said in a statement to Forbes, “Intel is committed to adhering to all relevant laws and regulations where we operate and upholding responsible business practices which guide our actions across our operations, products and supply chain. As part of this, we adhere to internationally recognized frameworks such as the UN Guiding Principles, ILO conventions and OECD guidelines – these guide our actions across our operations, products, and supply chain.”
Sanchez also noted that “most Intel products are general-purpose components distributed through third parties – and cannot always be directed in their final use,” but said the company holds “suppliers, customers and distributors to the same responsible business standards.”
“If we become aware of credible misuse, we act swiftly – restricting or halting business until we’re confident our products are not enabling abuse,” Intel stated.
The company’s website identifies Uniview as a “titanium member partner,” and promotes its “video connected all-in-one machine,” which it describes as a security camera setup that uses Intel technology to facilitate “image/object detection/recognition/classification” and “video surveillance and analysis.”
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In 2020, reporting from the surveillance research group IPVM showed that Uniview had developed an “ethnicity detection” software that could potentially detect people of Uyghur descent with its surveillance footage. Uniview also — along with Hikvision and Dahua, another sanctioned company — allegedly helped the Chinese government write standards for race-based surveillance in 2020. Uniview is also a major supplier of surveillance software to the Chinese government, and has direct partnerships with numerous police forces across China, including for “smart prison,” “smart police,” and “smart traffic” applications.
President Donald Trump also recently also called on the head of Intel to resign, accusing him of having potentially problematic ties to China. Trump said in a social media post that Lip-Bu Tan was “highly conflicted,” referring to his alleged investments in companies that the U.S. claims has ties to the Chinese military. Tan pushed back against the criticism, saying “I have always operated within the highest legal and ethical standards.”
Meanwhile, President Trump may be gearing up to purchase a good chunk of chipmaker Intel. According to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, the Trump administration is discussing taking a 10% stake in Intel, in a deal that could see the U.S. government become the chipmaker’s largest stakeholder.