China's Ministry of State Security has deployed advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, to document every person of interest, according to meeting memos obtained by The New York Times.
Chinese military officers and intelligence operatives have reportedly proposed using AI to track and analyze the behavior of their counterparts in the US government.
To do so, the AI program is fed with personal information from US agents and officials, including license plates, mobile data, contacts, and other supposedly private data.
The New York Times refrained from naming the companies and individuals China has contracted to acquire the AI system.
The surveillance effort comes after the White House and the Central Intelligence Agency doubled their monitoring of Chinese companies and their technological advances.
US, China Wages War on the Digital Space
The reports of AI surveillance are only the latest part of the growing tension between the two superpower countries, bringing their conflict to the digital world.
Just recently, Washington attributed several cyberattacks on US essential services to Chinese-backed bad actors. The attacks disrupted major power and water sectors across US states.
More major hackings were also reported on government facilities since last year as the countries increased aggression with each other in the Indo-Pacific region.
China has earlier vowed to crack down on American companies conducting corporate investigations on Chinese firms.
In turn, the US government has been moving to limit the reach of Chinese-based technology products away from authorities and relevant officials.
US, China Response on AI Development
While both countries have been utilizing the evolution of AI to monitor each other, China has been noted to exploit its existing technology against perceived threats.
Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, told The New York Times that taking advantage of technologies like AI "has become a popular shortcut encouraged by the government."
Despite the differing approaches to the technology, the leaders of both countries are in talks to ban the use of AI to transform warfare into autonomous battles.
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