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Will look into allegations of Google-China ties: Trump

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Press Trust of India Washington
Last Updated : Jul 16 2019 | 10:10 PM IST

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said his administration will "take a look" into the allegations of the internet search engine giant Google "working with the Chinese government".

His comments came following a remark from tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who accuses the company, headed by Indian-American Sunder Pichai, of treason.

"Billionaire Tech Investor Peter Thiel believes Google should be investigated for treason. He accuses Google of working with the Chinese Government," Trump tweeted.

"A great and brilliant guy who knows this subject better than anyone!," he said, adding, "The Trump Administration will take a look!".

The Google, meanwhile, has denied the allegations.

In 2010, the tech giant pulled its search engine from China, protesting Beijing's efforts to censor its search results. Though it recently began researching a modified version of its search engine for China, the company said it had no plans to deploy it.

Trump on several occasions has accused Google of being "bias" against him and his supporters.

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Theil, a Venture Capitalist, is associated with several competitors of Google.

According to the CBS News, Theil in his address to the National Conservatism Conference over the weekend has called for law enforcement officials to examine Google's activity in China.

Thiel suggested that a Google artificial intelligence project named DeepMind has been "infiltrated" by foreign intelligence operatives, the news channel reported.

"While a charge of treason is baseless, the comments suggest the Trump administration could be preparing a crackdown," it said.

According to American news website Axios, Theil suggested that the FBI and the CIA investigate Google.

Axios reported Thiel suggested that the Google should be asked three question.

"Number one, how many foreign intelligence agencies have infiltrated your Manhattan Project for AI? Number two, does Google's senior management consider itself to have been thoroughly infiltrated by Chinese intelligence?

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First Published: Jul 16 2019 | 10:10 PM IST

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