Experts question the cooperation of the Amsterdam universities UvA and VU with Chinese tech giant Huawei. The Chinese company called in the universities for 3.5 million euros to improve its European search engine, writes the Financieele Dagblad. The question is whether sufficient account has been taken of security risks
The intention is for the universities to set up a lab where about ten researchers will be employed by the VU and UvA. The scientists will conduct research into the use of artificial intelligence. In particular, they want to look at the development of a search engine that takes into account the different languages and cultures in Europe.
Under magnifying glass
The partnership between Huawei and the universities is striking because the Chinese telecom company in the western world is under a magnifying glass. For more than a year now, concerns have been expressed about the role of the Chinese manufacturer in the rollout of 5G networks. The US in particular warns of potential espionage and sabotage because of the company’s warm ties with the Chinese government.
Huawei has always disputed this and no hard evidence has ever come to the table.
Risks
The UvA and the VU claim to be aware of the risks and have therefore made clear agreements with Huawei. The universities have contacted the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the AIVD to look into the risks
Economic Affairs says that universities have been made aware of the risks in a discussion. That’s all the government could do at the moment. The ministry does not want to say what risks it has pointed out to the universities
Cybersecurity expert Mary-Jo de Leeuw thinks it’s crazy that the responsibility for security is placed entirely with the universities. “Precisely because the cabinet has said it wants to keep Huawei out of the critical parts of the Dutch 5G network.”
Military purposes
In addition, according to De Leeuw, the government can rely on the Wassenaar Arrangement. The government can block the export of technologies that can also be used for military purposes. “At the moment it is impossible to determine for what purposes the research results will be used. In theory, they could be used for military purposes.”
The universities guarantee that the risks are limited. For example, the lab is established by the universities and employees are employed by the UvA or the VU. “In addition, we only use data on our own servers and Huawei employees cannot access that data”, says a spokesperson for the VU But it would be good if the universities were to make the contracts, including secret clauses, public so that it becomes clear what agreements have been made, says Bart Jacobs, professor of computer security at Radboud University. “In situations like this, everything better be transparent.” Without the knowledge and technology, Huawei might also be interested in something else. “With this cooperation, the Chinese company hopes to create goodwill,” says Jacobs. “The universities are being used in a Chinese PR strategy and it’s questionable whether you should participate.” Amsterdam’s universities do not seem to mind this and see the collaboration as a great opportunity for research into artificial intelligence. The contract was signed in May and researchers are currently being recruited for the lab.
Transparency