American technology giants have found themselves at the center of a storm following revelations that their products and expertise played a pivotal role in constructing and maintaining China’s vast surveillance state. According to a sweeping investigation by the Associated Press, published on September 9, 2025, the involvement of U.S. tech companies in enabling human rights abuses in China is far greater than previously understood. Over the past quarter century, these firms sold billions of dollars’ worth of advanced technology to Chinese police, government agencies, and surveillance companies—often in the face of repeated warnings from the U.S. Congress and the media that such tools were being used to quash dissent, persecute religious minorities, and target vulnerable populations.
The AP’s investigation, built on a trove of tens of thousands of leaked emails, confidential documents, Chinese-language marketing materials, and procurement records, paints a detailed picture of how American innovation was repurposed for digital authoritarianism. More than 100 sources—including engineers, executives, officials, and police officers—helped piece together the extent of this cooperation. While U.S. companies were the most significant suppliers, firms from Germany, Japan, and South Korea also contributed to the technological infrastructure underpinning the surveillance apparatus.
One striking example emerged from classified Chinese government documents, which showed that in 2009, IBM partnered with a Chinese military contractor to design national intelligence systems for the Ministry of State Security and the Chinese military. These systems, initially intended for counterterrorism, were later used by China’s secret police. IBM, for its part, described such deals as "old, stale interactions," stating, "If older systems are being abused today—and IBM has no knowledge that they are—the misuse is entirely outside of IBM’s control, was not contemplated by IBM decades ago, and in no way reflects on IBM today."
IBM’s i2 policing analysis software, sold to Xinjiang police and other Chinese police units throughout the 2010s, became the backbone of predictive policing platforms. According to leaked emails, a former IBM agent, Landasoft, adapted the software for a system that tagged hundreds of thousands as potential terrorists during the notorious crackdown in Xinjiang. IBM maintains it ceased relations with Landasoft in 2014 and prohibited sales to police in Xinjiang and Tibet since 2015. The company also claims it has no record of i2 sales to the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau.
Dell and its then-subsidiary VMWare provided cloud software and storage devices to police and data providers in Tibet and Xinjiang as recently as 2022—well after ethnic repression in these regions had become widely recognized. In 2019, Dell even touted a partnership with surveillance firm Yitu to market a “military-grade” AI-powered laptop to Chinese police, boasting "all-race recognition." Dell told the AP it conducts "rigorous due diligence" to comply with U.S. export controls.
Other American companies, including Oracle and Microsoft, saw their software used in Chinese policing systems, with procurement records and leaked databases confirming their presence in Xinjiang. Intel, meanwhile, partnered with Chinese fingerprinting company Hisign—whose products were sold to Xinjiang police—until 2024. Intel said it had not engaged technically with Hisign since that year and would "act swiftly" if any "credible misuse" emerged.
Facial recognition technology was another area of deep entanglement. IBM, Dell, Hitachi, and VMWare all promoted such capabilities for Chinese law enforcement. Japanese electronics giant Sony wired a Chinese prison with “intelligent” cameras, and California-based NVIDIA and Intel partnered with China’s largest surveillance companies to add AI to camera systems used nationwide, including in Xinjiang and Tibet, until U.S. sanctions were imposed. As recently as 2022, NVIDIA highlighted on Chinese social media that companies like Watrix and GEOAI were using its chips to train AI patrol drones and gait recognition systems. NVIDIA has since stated these relationships have ended.
DNA surveillance also drew on American technology. Chinese police DNA labs acquired Dell and Microsoft software and equipment to manage genetic data, while Hitachi advertised DNA sequencers to police in 2021. Thermo Fisher Scientific, a Massachusetts-based biotech firm, stopped sales in Xinjiang in 2021 and Tibet in 2024, but as of this year, still promoted DNA kits to police elsewhere in China. The company’s website previously described its kits as “designed” for China’s population, including "ethnic minorities like Uyghurs and Tibetans." Thermo Fisher now says its kits "are designed to be effective across diverse global populations" and "do not have the capability to distinguish among specific ethnic groups."
The digital crackdown extended to the internet as well. In 2014, VMWare said its software was used by internet police in multiple Chinese cities. Two years later, Dell boasted that its services helped internet police "crack down on rumormongers," a euphemism for censorship. IBM’s i2 software was also marketed to internet police in Shanghai and Guangzhou, with a 2018 conference in Beijing promoting these tools.
Hardware support for surveillance was pervasive. Motorola, based in Illinois, provided encrypted radio technology for police to manage "sudden and mass events" in Beijing. Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba sold hard drives optimized for AI video systems, with Toshiba writing in 2022 about helping police "identify and control suspicious" or "blacklisted" individuals. Western Digital promoted its partnership with surveillance company Uniview at a policing expo just months before Uniview was sanctioned over rights abuses. Seagate, for its part, advertised hard drives "tailor made" for police use in China as recently as this year.
Mapping and tracking were also enabled by American software. In 2009, IBM, Oracle, and Esri sold software to build China’s Police Geographic Information System, which alerts authorities when Uyghurs, Tibetans, or dissidents leave designated areas. HP sold “digital fencing” solutions in 2013. Although the U.S. restricted exports of such mapping software in 2020, Esri still operates a research center in Beijing and markets to police.
Police officers on the ground were equipped with foreign-made gear. Motorola walkie-talkies are a common sight in Beijing, while Samsung microSD cards for police body cameras were promoted at trade shows in 2023 and 2024. German electronics giant Philips was cited in Chinese state media as cooperating on "AI-powered 5G" police body cameras, though Philips denies any such partnership.
When confronted, many companies insisted they comply with export controls and relevant laws. Some, like Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Broadcom, declined to comment. Others, including HP, Motorola, Samsung, Toshiba, Huadi, and Landasoft, did not respond. Microsoft said it did not knowingly provide software for updates to China’s main policing system. Eppendorf, Sony, and Hitachi emphasized their respect for human rights, while the Xinjiang government defended its use of surveillance technologies as necessary to "prevent and combat terrorist and criminal activity," denying any ethnic targeting. The statement added, "Western countries also use such technology, calling the U.S. a true surveillance state."
As the world grapples with the ethical implications of digital surveillance, the revelations about American technology’s role in China’s human rights abuses raise urgent questions about the responsibilities of global corporations—and the limits of self-regulation in the face of authoritarian demand.
