Fred Fleitz: Google's Denials About China 'Nonsense'

Google's claims that it doesn't work with China's military are "nonsense," given its artificial intelligence operations in Beijing, Fred Fleitz, president of the Center for Security Policy, said Wednesday. 

"Google is operating an AI laboratory in Beijing to attract Chinese tech talent," Fleitz told Fox Business' "Mornings with Maria." "We know the way the Chinese government operates. Every single employee is working for, and being vetted by, Chinese intelligence."

Meanwhile, anything developed in Google's laboratory "is going to flow through those employees to Chinese intelligence and be used by Chinese military," said Fleitz.

It would be equally bad if Google was hiring Chinese nationals for a company operating in the United States, which "it is probably also doing," said Fleitz. "But putting this AI lab in Beijing is a real problem and it makes it even worse because of Google's left-wing politics."

The company has stopped working with the Pentagon, he said, and "we already know it is slanting search results against conservatives."

The matter is moving from an issue about free speech to national security, said Fleitz, and he's glad President Donald Trump wants to look into the matter. 

Fleitz said he doesn't know if there is a restriction to stop Google's activities in China, but he does know it pulled its search engine from the country because it was forcing it to censor search results.

"Last year, Google was trying to build a secret, censorable search engine for the Chinese government,"  but dropped the plan because of protests from the United States, Fleitz noted. 

"Popular pressure might be (enough to) reverse this," said Fleitz, "but Google seems to want the revenue from China. It is not worried about the threat this poses."

The United States must also be more clear about how such collaboration poses a national security threat, said Fleitz, as there is "no way" to stop Google's AI technology from going to China's military.

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