China is developing an AI-based intelligence platform called “Supermind” to track millions of scientists and researchers worldwide, aiming to hoover up breakthrough technologies for industry and the military.
The state-funded platform uses sophisticated AI systems to help find talent for China and is under construction in a new “information and intelligence” center in Shenzhen, home to big tech firms like Huawei, ZTE and Tencent, Newsweek reported.
The project, fueled by a US$280 million investment mainly by the Shenzhen government, represents a significant AI-empowered step in China’s bid to win a global technology competition with the US.
The Supermind will offer users 300 million global science and technology research papers and 120 million patents, and have the ability to locate 130 million international scholars or “human talents” to scrutinize their work. The system will be constantly updated and include Hong Kong and Macau in its networks.
Newsweek reports that Supermind is associated with multiple security intelligence organizations in China, including the Key Laboratory of New Technologies of Security Intelligence in Guangdong Province.
It also says the platform is networked with dedicated state data security organizations, such as the AI developer Pengcheng Laboratory, the China National Gene Bank, and BGI, a genomics company.
The report also points out that the Chinese database’s use of “intelligence” should be understood as seeking “information of use to the state” between classified intelligence and open source.
Such technology could identify and recruit skilled personnel in sensitive military fields, focusing on Chinese scientists working for US institutions.
At the same time, the US is also developing its own version of China’s Supermind technology. It’s not immediately clear which side first initiated the concept.
In January 2023, the US Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) called upon industry and academia to suggest commercial open-source intelligence (OSINT) systems that can assist the US Department of Defense (DOD) in gathering and analyzing information on the science and technology advancements of foreign state competitors and adversaries.
The DOD is reportedly seeking US-developed OSINT prototypes with data science tools and machine learning to gather information on the technological initiatives of potential adversaries.
These prototypes should collect insights from publicly available and commercially available information to comprehensively understand the country’s rivals’ investments and development activities in science and technology.
The DOD is particularly interested in technological areas such as AI, quantum computing, semiconductors, biotechnology and high-performance computing.
The OSINT platforms should be able to identify new science and technology trends in each field of interest by analyzing open-source data and recognizing unique patterns defined by the users. Additionally, they should be able to describe the individuals, organizations and networks involved in these trends.
The US may be playing catch-up in tracking China’s scientific and technological developments. In September 2022, Asia Times reported on a private intelligence report by Strider Technology that claims that China is using US expertise and resources to advance its military and strategic interests.
The “Los Alamos Club” report reveals how China incentivizes its scientists to venture abroad, deepen their expertise and return home to pursue military and strategic projects. The report claims that Chinese scientists participating in sensitive US government-funded research aided China’s recent rapid advances in various vital military technologies.
The report also claims that China employs a “Talent Superpower Strategy” to incentivize academics, researchers and scientists to advance its interests as part of its Thousand Talents Program (TTP).
It alleges that China has applied this human resource strategy at the US Los Alamos National Laboratory, the leading US Department of Energy (DOE) research facility for designing nuclear warheads and finding solutions to emerging threats.
It highlights China’s recruitment strategy for scientists, which allows for transferring sensitive technology back to China. It also cites instances where Chinese researchers have returned dual-use and export-controlled technology to China.
In 2018, the US Trump administration initiated the China Initiative to tackle espionage in US research and industry after the theft of sensitive technologies. Subsequently, the DOE issued guidelines in 2019 that banned contractors and employees from participating in foreign talent recruitment programs.
The US government has prosecuted both Chinese and US scientists who have been found guilty of conspiring to steal trade secrets, making false statements, committing tax offenses and having undisclosed connections to TTP and Chinese universities.
However, the China Initiative has been criticized for its criminal lens and stoked fears of racial profiling, hate crimes, government surveillance, professional career difficulties and racism, with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) ending it in February 2022.
While not an overt espionage tool, China’s Supermind AI may be used to identify key personnel who could be bribed, deceived or manipulated into divulging classified information.
In June 2023, The New York Times Magazine reported on the case of a General Electric (GE) aviation engineer surnamed Hua who was tricked into leaking classified aircraft technology under the guise of academic collaboration.
The New York Times states that Hua’s work at GE involved designing containment cases for the rotating fan blades of jet engines with carbon-based composites instead of metal, leading to lighter engines and a commercial advantage.
The source states Hua was invited to deliver a presentation at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) and he was careful not to divulge the specifics of his work at GE.
Despite that, it says Hua had downloaded classified GE information into his laptop to prepare his NUAA presentation. The source says that he forgot to delete his presentation, including some slides with the GE logo, which was uploaded to the NUAA auditorium computer.
It also mentions that during his trip to Nanjing, Hua was introduced to Qu Hui, supposedly the deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial Association for International Science and Technology Development, but who was actually Xu Yanjun, a Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) agent tasked with stealing sensitive US technologies such as materials used in the US F-22 fighter.
The New York Times says that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) got wind of Hua’s visit to Nanjing and persuaded him to be their counterintelligence asset to avoid charges.
With Hua’s help, the FBI managed to arrest Xu in Belgium in an entrapment operation by Belgian police. The report states that Xu was extradited to the US to face economic espionage charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.