The US-based research arm of China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd (華為) — Futurewei Technologies Inc — has moved to separate its operations from its corporate parent since the US government last month put Huawei on a trade blacklist, two people familiar with the matter said.
Futurewei has banned Huawei employees from its offices, moved Futurewei employees to a new IT system and forbidden them from using the Huawei name or logo in communications, a Futurewei employee said on condition of anonymity.
Huawei would continue to own Futurewei, the employee said.
Photo: AFP
Futurewei general counsel Milton Frazier declined to comment on the separation or the strategy behind it, referring questions to Huawei spokesman Chase Skinner. Skinner did not answer questions about the effort.
The division of operations, which has not been previously reported, comes as many US universities have halted research partnerships with Huawei in reaction to US government allegations that the company poses a national security threat.
Many universities are also rethinking their partnerships with other Chinese firms.
Futurewei employs hundreds of people at offices in Silicon Valley and the greater Seattle, Chicago and Dallas areas, according to its workers’ LinkedIn pages.
The company has filed more than 2,100 patents in such areas as telecommunications, 5G networks, and video and camera technologies, data from the US Patent and Trademark Office showed.
Until now, Futurewei’s operations have been largely indistinguishable from Huawei, the Futurewei employee said.
Futurewei had no separate brand or even a Web site, the employee said, and its staff often identified themselves as Huawei employees.
Both companies have conducted a wide range of research partnerships and grant programs with US universities.
Last year, 26 members of US Congress sent a letter to US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, warning that Huawei’s partnerships with at least 50 US universities “may pose a significant threat to national security.”
The fear is that Huawei is using university partnerships to scoop up research in areas such as artificial intelligence, telecommunications and robotics, which could be used in hacking or spying operations or to give Chinese companies an edge over US competitors.
Some universities are struggling with whether they can continue partnerships with Futurewei — which is not on the government’s entity list — even as they suspend funding and research arrangements with Huawei.
The University of California, Berkeley, for instance, is allowing researchers to keep working with Futurewei after suspending all funding and information exchanges with Huawei last month, according to guidance to faculty from research head Randy Katz.
Berkeley also suspended funding from Futurewei, but continues to allow Futurewei employees to participate in research reviews under certain restrictions, Katz wrote to faculty.
Berkeley staff and students now can work only with Futurewei employees who are US citizens or legal permanent residents, and who agree in writing not to share certain sensitive information with Huawei.
Companies on the entity list are banned from buying parts and components from US firms without US government approval. Most universities have also consulted the list when making decisions on grants or partnerships, said Tobin Smith of the Association of American Universities.
The US Department of Commerce could not legally place Futurewei on the entity list because it is a US company, the agency said in a statement.
Department spokesman Ari Schaffer did not answer questions on whether and how the agency regulates university research partnerships with entity-list companies or their US subsidiaries.
There is nothing illegal about colleges taking grant money or conducting research with such companies, said Erick Robinson, head of China practice at law firm Dunlap, Bennett & Ludwig.
What is prohibited, he said, is any transfer of “essential confidential technology” to Huawei by any person or organization.
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