Microsoft researchers co-authored three academic papers with academics affiliated with China’s National University of Defense Technology, focusing on AI applications that could be used for surveillance and censorship. The papers were published between March 2018 and November 2018. Meanwhile, the U.S. is pushing China to allow cloud companies, including Microsoft, greater access to its US$12-billion cloud market. (Financial Times, Bloomberg)

Talking point: The U.S. is walking a fine line here. It wants greater access for its tech companies in China’s market, but is simultaneously considering export controls on certain types of research—including AI and augmented reality—that could end up being used by foreign armies. The increased U.S. scrutiny of large tech companies’ relationships with the Chinese military comes as firms are facing pressure from their own employees to stop working with the U.S. military. Google pulled out of an AI contract with the Pentagon following employee pressure; Microsoft workers want the company to back out of a US$480-million contract. Despite the dual pressure, there’s still lots of money for tech firms willing to work on military applications. In Canada, my colleague Murad reported that over half of the money in the government’s startup procurement program comes from the defence department.