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   From: nobody@yamn.paranoici.org   
      
   Gina Raimondo has major financial stake in AI firm funded by Chinese   
   venture capital firm   
      
   A venture capital firm backed by the Chinese government is a major   
   investor in an artificial intelligence company that counts Commerce   
   Secretary Gina Raimondo's husband as a top executive, a potential   
   conflict of interest as her agency works to counter China on the   
   world stage.   
      
   Danhua Capital, based in California but established with the   
   financial backing of the Chinese Communist Party, is one of the main   
   funders of PathAI, an artificial intelligence firm that employs   
   Raimondo's husband, Andy Moffit, as its chief people officer. Danhua   
   Capital has been invested in PathAI since at least 2017, when it   
   joined five other funders to contribute $11 million worth of seed   
   funding for the artificial intelligence startup. It is unclear how   
   much Danhua Capital has invested in PathAI, a private company, but   
   the Chinese firm lists PathAI on its website as one of its featured   
   "biotech and health" investments.   
      
   Danhua Capital was established and funded with the help of the   
   Chinese government as part of its "penetration of Silicon Valley,"   
   according to a 2018 Reuters report on the firm. The Center for a New   
   American Security (CNAS), a liberal think tank with former staffers   
   now in the highest ranks of the Biden administration, testified to   
   Congress in 2018 that Danhua Capital's mission is to use its capital   
   to narrow the technology gap between China and the United States.   
      
   Neither Raimondo nor PathAI responded to requests for comment on   
   Danhua Capital's investment. As commerce secretary, Raimondo is   
   tasked with managing the U.S. business relationship with countries   
   across the globe, and she has emerged as one of the most pro-China   
   voices in the administration. In a September Wall Street Journal   
   interview, Raimondo said the United States should strengthen   
   economic ties with China, arguing "robust" commercial engagement   
   with China would "mitigate any potential tensions" with the global   
   rival.   
      
   The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Raimondo's agency   
   was pushing back on efforts by others in the Biden administration to   
   block Chinese technology firms from working with American companies.   
   Commerce officials are arguing internally, according to the report,   
   that the administration's tougher approach to China would hurt U.S.   
   companies.   
      
   Raimondo said on Thursday she would not urge U.S. companies to pull   
   sponsorships from the upcoming Beijing Olympics after President Joe   
   Biden announced a diplomatic boycott of the games over human rights   
   abuses. "What individual companies do is entirely up to them,"   
   Raimondo said. "We’re not going to pressure them one way or   
   another."   
      
   Raimondo's ethics agreement to serve in the Biden administration   
   bars her from participating in any matter that could have a "direct   
   and predictable effect on the financial interests of PathAI."   
   Raimondo's financial disclosure forms show she would greatly benefit   
   from the company's success. In addition to an annual salary, Moffit   
   was given a significant number of ownership shares in the company as   
   well as stock options. The value of the nearly 200,000 shares is not   
   ascertainable, according to the disclosure form.   
      
   In 2018 testimony titled, "China’s Threat to American Government and   
   Private Sector Research and Innovation Leadership," Elsa Kania, an   
   adjunct fellow at CNAS, told Congress that Danhua Capital is   
   directly tied to the Chinese government. In Kania’s testimony, she   
   said Danhua Capital is open about its plans to narrow the gap   
   between America and China when it comes to technological   
   development. "According to its cofounder, the fund is committed to   
   ‘narrowing the gap’ in technological development between China and   
   the U.S.," she wrote.   
      
   Multiple senior CNAS staff from the time of Kania's testimony now   
   serve in top roles in the Biden administration. Kania’s former   
   colleagues from CNAS include Colin Kahl, Ely Ratner, and Victoria   
   Nuland—all of whom now occupy top roles in the State Department and   
   Defense Department.   
      
   Subsequent testimony in the Senate Small Business Committee from   
   Robert Atkinson, the president of the Information Technology and   
   Innovation Foundation, warned that Danhua Capital is used by Beijing   
   to exert its influence overseas.   
      
   "Zhongguancun Development Group, a state-owned enterprise   
   headquartered in Beijing has set up ‘Danhua Capital' to promote the   
   strategy of ‘Zhongguancun Capital going global and bringing in   
   overseas advanced technology and talents,’" Atkinson said.   
      
   PathAI has received funding from Danhua Capital across multiple   
   years. In 2017, Danhua Capital joined investors in bringing PathAI's   
   total capital raised to $15 million. In 2019, the company raised at   
   least $60 million, and Danhua Capital was again listed as an   
   investor.   
      
   Raimondo’s Commerce Department has also provided a lifeline to   
   Huawei, a company closely tied to China’s brutal repression of its   
   Muslim Uyghur population. In August, the Commerce Department   
      
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