• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Library
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » The Trade War Didn't Stop a Google and Huawei AI Collaboration

The Trade War Didn't Stop a Google and Huawei AI Collaboration

The Trade War Didn't Stop a Google and Huawei AI Collaboration
April 3, 2019
Bloomberg

When Huawei announced its latest smartphone last week, the world’s largest telecommunications gear maker also shared another product. Track AI promises to pair software with Huawei devices to let “non-trained professionals” diagnose eye conditions.

Missing from the Chinese company’s announcement was Google’s work behind the scenes.

Huawei Technologies Co. built Track AI using TensorFlow, a set of AI software tools from Alphabet Inc.’s Google. TensorFlow is also open-source, so anyone, anywhere can use it and Google can’t control access.

However, a creative team that works with Google’s advertising clients also provided marketing help to Huawei, according to Google spokesman Chris Brummitt. These teams regularly work with Google clients to “make the most of what’s possible with technology, leading to ideas like this one,” Brummitt added, while stressing that no Google engineers worked on the project. A Huawei spokesman confirmed the partnership.

The Track AI initiative is not a major strategic priority for either of the technology giants but it does underscore the important business relationships that Google has been trying to build with Chinese companies like Huawei for decades.

Artificial intelligence is a major investment area for both companies, and health-care diagnostics is one of the ripest fields for image-recognition software. Yet the collaboration happened during a particularly fraught moment. Huawei is a pariah for the Trump Administration amid concerns it could pose a threat to national security and be a vehicle for Beijing’s spying, allegations the company has consistently denied. Google’s AI efforts in China are the subject of scathing criticism from the U.S. military.

Google’s support for Track AI may be tied to the U.S. company’s huge advertising business, which caters to Chinese companies looking to reach customers outside the country even as its search business remains blocked on the mainland. While Google doesn’t disclose how much revenue it generates in China, Asia accounted for about 15 percent of revenue last year.

Huawei and Google have also worked closely in the past. The Shenzhen-based company’s phones use Google’s Android software and, outside of China, rely heavily on the U.S. firm’s apps including search, Chrome and Maps. In 2015, the Chinese manufacturer designed a model of the Nexus smartphones, which Google co-marketed.

Last June, the corporate friendship fell under political fire. Five U.S. Senators wrote a letter to Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai saying the company’s partnership with Huawei “could pose a serious risk to U.S. national security and American consumers.”

Pichai met last week with a top military official and President Donald Trump, who have both criticized the tech giant for its work in China.

Politics have done little to dent Huawei’s growth. Last week, the company posted a 25 percent jump in annual profit despite concern about the security of its telecommunications network products.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Logistics Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain) Technology Business Strategy Alignment Healthcare High-Tech/Electronics Pharmaceutical/Biotech
KEYWORDS Big Data/IOT Business Strategy Alignment healthcare High-Tech/Electronics Pharmaceutical/Biotech Technology
  • Related Articles

    CEOs Are Hedging Against the Chaos of a Full-On Trade War

    Will the Trade War Force a Rethinking of High-Tech Sourcing Strategies?

    Portrait of a Steel Town: Where Others Fear a Trade War, Coatesville Sees Hope

Bloomberg

FedEx to Cut Management Jobs by More Than 10%, CEO Says

More from this author

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter!

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • DOCUMENTS BEARING THE INSIGNIA OF US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION LIE ON A TABLE

    New CBP Regs Call for Greater Diligence by Brokers in Reporting Security Breaches

    Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
  • A WORKER IN A WAREHOUSE, SUPERIMPOSED WITH GRAPHICS SHOWING SUPPLY NETWORK

    Enabling Intelligent Visibility With Supply Chain Analytics

    Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
  • A GROUP OF WORKERS RANGED IN AN OFFICE, OF DIVERSE RACE, GENDER, AGE AND PHYSICAL ABILITY

    Podcast | The Supply Chain Workforce of the Future Is Already Here

    HR & Labor Management
  • A HAND TURNS A LARGE, LIGHTED DIAL WITH THE WORD RISK ON IT iStock-NicoElNino-1364371014.jpg

    Measuring KPIs and KRIs for Comprehensive Supplier Performance Management

    Technology
  • INSIDE A WAREHOUSE, TWO HANDS HOLD A TABLET COMPUTER SHOWING A MAP OF THE WORLD

    Five Ways to Increase Supply Chain Visibility

    Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)

Digital Edition

Scb nov 2022 sm

2022 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • New Revenue for Cloud-Based TMS that Embeds Orderful’s Modern EDI Platform

  • Convenience Store Client Maximizes Profit and Improves Customer Service

  • A Digitally Native Footwear Brand Finds Rapid Fulfillment

  • Expanding Apparel Brand Scales Seamlessly with E-Commerce Technology

  • How a Global LSP Scaled its Security Program and Won More Business

Visit Our Sponsors

Orderful Yang Ming Alithya
Barcoding Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics
CoEnterprise Data Capture Deposco
E2open GAINSystems Generix
Geodis GEP GreyOrange
Here Honeywell Intelligrated IFM
Infor Inmar Keelvar
Kinaxis Korber Lean Solutions Group 2H
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Logility
LogistiVIEW Lucas Systems MCA Connect
MPO Nvidia Old Dominion
OpenText ORTEC Overhaul
Parsyl PMMI QIMA
Redwood Logistics Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash Saddle Creek Logistics
Schneider Dedicated Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD
Shipwell Tecsys TGW Systems
Thomson Reuters Tive Trailer Bridge
Vecna Robotics Verity
Verusen
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2023 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing