Chinese startups supported by Microsoft and Google worked with police

Rest of World reports that Microsoft and Google have supported Chinese tech startups that provide censorship and policing technologies, through their incubator programs. Data Grand sold censorship software before joining Microsoft's program in 2017 and later developed automation tools for Chinese police. DeepGlint, a facial recognition firm that joined in 2013, worked with police in Xinjiang and was sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2021. Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment, and Google declined to comment.