Representative Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has urged for an inquiry into Group 42 Holdings (G42) over its purported ties to the People's Republic of China (PRC). Gallagher recently dispatched a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, expressing his apprehensions.
The AI firm G42, led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE’s National Security Advisor, and CEO Peng Xiao, has lately sparked concerns among lawmakers. The legislators are particularly concerned about G42's "extensive business relationships with Chinese military companies, state-owned entities, and the PRC intelligence services." They are advocating for additional scrutiny to ascertain whether the company should be incorporated into the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Entity List, as per a press release from the Select Committee on the CCP.
According to Gallagher's letter to Raimondo, "According to documents reviewed by the Committee, G42’s CEO Peng Xiao operates and is affiliated with an expansive network of UAE and PRC-based companies that develop dual-use technologies and materially support PRC military-civil fusion and human rights abuses." He added that "Xiao served in leadership positions with Pegasus, which is a subsidiary of an Emirati company called DarkMatter. DarkMatter is a corporate affiliate of G42 that develops spyware and surveillance tools that can be used to spy on dissidents, journalists, politicians, and U.S. companies."
The Select Committee recently found out that G42 has affiliations with blacklisted firms such as Huawei and Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI). Moreover, it was unveiled that certain U.S. companies including Microsoft and Dell have ties with G42. This revelation prompted lawmakers to voice concerns about potential intellectual property theft by the CCP among other issues according to a press release from the Select Committee on the CCP.
Currently representing Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District, Gallagher is campaigning for re-election to the U.S. House. He holds a degree in international relations and affairs and served seven years of active duty in the Marine Corps, retiring in 2013 with the rank of captain. During his tenure, he worked in counterintelligence and was part of the Central Command (CENTCOM) assessment team during deployment, as reported by Ballotpedia.
