Unleashing the Power of AI: Huawei's Bold Decade-Long Vision

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Huawei, the Chinese tech and telecoms giant, revealed its new strategic direction on Wednesday after a span of approximately 10 years. The company stated that it will now concentrate on artificial intelligence (AI), marking a shift from its previous emphasis on cloud computing and intellectual property over two long-standing eras. The announcement was delivered by Meng Wanzhou, the rotating chairwoman and chief financial officer of Huawei, during a company event held in Shanghai.

Huawei stated that with the increasing influence of artificial intelligence and its growing significance in various industries, their All Intelligence strategy aims to assist all industries in seizing new strategic prospects. In a speech, Meng emphasized Huawei's dedication to constructing a reliable computing infrastructure not only for China but also providing an alternative option globally.

"Our end goal is to help meet the diverse AI computing needs of different industries," she added, without providing details.

Eddie Wu took over as Alibaba's chief executive on Sunday.

Handout/Alibaba

Alibaba's newly appointed CEO prioritizes AI and is aiming for a more youthful management team.

Other companies, including SoftBank from Japan, have expressed a similar intention to prioritize fast-paced technology for quite some time. This year, even more businesses have joined in due to the buzz surrounding platforms like GPT-4.

After almost three years of being under house arrest in Canada, Meng returned to China in September 2021. She had been involved in an extradition conflict with the United States, alongside Huawei, facing charges of bank fraud and evading economic sanctions imposed on Iran.

The executive, who happens to be Ren Zhengfei's daughter and the founder of Huawei, was able to depart after coming to an agreement with the United States Department of Justice and having her charges ultimately dropped.

Meng commenced her tenure as the company's rotating chairperson in April and is anticipated to hold the position for a duration of six months.

Hacking allegations

News of Huaweis strategic update came the same day the company was mentioned in allegations lodged by China against the United States.

The Chinese Ministry of State Security, in a WeChat statement on Wednesday, accused the United States of infiltrating Huawei servers nearly 15 years ago. According to the ministry, the US intelligence services have conducted surveillance, stolen secrets, and launched cyberattacks against several countries worldwide, including China, using their extensive cyber capabilities.

The US National Security Agency (NSA) has allegedly carried out multiple systematic and platform-based attacks on China, with the intention of stealing valuable data resources. Huawei has chosen not to comment on these allegations, while the NSA has yet to respond to a comment request during non-business hours.

On January 29, 2019, in Beijing, China, a pedestrian is seen talking on the phone while passing by a store belonging to Huawei Technologies Co. The U.S. Justice Department has recently brought several criminal charges against the Chinese telecoms giant, Huawei, and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. The charges include bank fraud, violation of sanctions on Iran, and theft of robotic technology. Huawei has firmly denied all allegations and dismissed the criminal accusations against Meng, who is the daughter of Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei. Meng was arrested in Canada in December of last year. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

US says it has no evidence that Huawei can make advanced smartphones 'at scale'

The claims are significant as US officials have had longstanding suspicions of the company engaging in espionage through the networks its technology operates on. These suspicions have served as the basis for trade restrictions imposed on the company. Huawei has strongly denied these allegations, emphasizing its independence from the Chinese government.

In 2019, Huawei was included in the US "entity list," which imposes limitations on exports to specific organizations without a license from the US government. The subsequent year, the US government further intensified these restrictions by attempting to sever Huawei's access to chip suppliers utilizing US technology.

Huawei has once again contributed to escalating tensions between the US and China by introducing a groundbreaking new smartphone in recent weeks.

Last month, Huawei unveiled its latest flagship device, the Mate 60 Pro, leading to an investigation by the US. Analysts have analyzed the phone and indicated that it incorporates a 5G chip, indicating that Huawei may have discovered a method to circumvent American export restrictions.

Mengchen Zhang contributed to this report.