Founder of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, claimed at Davos that he suspects the U.S. will take more actions against the company while Huawei continues to survive. “We got the experience now,” he said during a session at the Winter Davos. “We have poured hundreds of billions of money into our Plan B, and that’s why we can withstand the first wave of U.S. attack.”
The comments by Huawei chief executive and founder Ren Zhengfei to business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos come amid a bitter court fight in Canada over a US demand to extradite Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is his eldest daughter. Huawei has also been banned from working with American firms on the grounds that it poses a national security threat – an accusation the company has consistently denied.
EDITOR’S PICK: Top security adviser believes UK PM Johnson will defy US and allow use of Huawei
In response to the U.S. attacks, Huawei disclosed some “Plan B” products that can be used to replace U.S. parts, including Huawei Mobile Services (HMS), a replacement of its Google counterpart. Huawei also started porting its IoT operating system “Harmony” to smartphones.
Ren also stressed that Huawei is a “pro-U.S.” company that hired tens of U.S. consulting firms to teach Huawei how to manage a big company. “The U.S. should be proud that their experience on management brought development to other places,” he said.
Ren also discussed aspects of the concurrent AI race, telling us that the fear of AI will fade away, comparing it to the fear of nuclear energy. “I was born around the time of Hiroshima, and I saw people around me being afraid of nuclear bombs,” he said. “But eventually nuclear power plants and the use of radiation in hospitals have benefited so many people. The same can be true for AI,” Ren stressed.
He also weighs in about the current fear of a split between the tech world due to the ongoing problems between the US and China. “In my opinion, the Chinese government has not even started to think about the consequences of AI development,” he told Davos.
According to Ren, the U.S. is overthinking about China’s sci-tech power. “China’s education is still trying to train engineers instead of scientists, which means China does not have enough basic science research power to compete with the U.S.,” he explained. “There is only one truth. That’s why the tech world will not split,” he said. “Whoever gets the truth will share it with everyone else.”
UP NEXT: Alleged live shots of the Huawei P40 Pro leaked
(Source)
