The firm said the delay was “to safeguard the interests of the potential investors of the company,” and allow them to “consider the potential impact of” the US move on any investments. But on Monday, the company postponed its stock market debut in Hong Kong, where it was set to start trading as soon as this week. SenseTime has strongly denied the accusations. Similarly, the Treasury Department said that the decision to block SenseTime was due to the role its technology allegedly played in enabling human rights abuses against the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. Last Friday, artificial intelligence startup SenseTime was also hit by the same US Treasury blacklist as DJI, two years after one of its subsidiaries was put on the entity list in 2019. Washington has been piling pressure on Chinese companies recently. That means it would likely not be impacted by any restriction barring American investment in DJI, the person said. Sequoia Capital China declined to comment and Kleiner Perkins did not respond to a request for comment on whether the restriction would complicate their investments.īut according to a person familiar with the matter, Sequoia’s investment in DJI is handled by Sequoia Capital China, which operates as a separate legal entity from the US firm. Washington’s latest clampdown could create financing headaches for the upstart drone maker, which is privately held and headquartered in Shenzhen.ĭJI currently counts Silicon Valley heavyweights such as Sequoia Capital China and Kleiner Perkins as investors. It declined to provide an update or comment on those plans this week. Instead, it referred CNN Business to a previous statement made in response to earlier restrictions last December, when it said it had “done nothing to justify being placed on the entity list.”ĭJI added at the time that it was also “evaluating options to ensure our customers, partners, and suppliers are treated fairly,” without elaborating further. The drone maker declined to comment ahead of the US Treasury’s announcement on Wednesday. SenseTime delays its IPO after being hit by another US blacklist (Photo by Long Wei/VCG via Getty Images) Long Wei/VCG/Getty Images SHANGHAI, CHINA - JULY 07: People visit the booth of SenseTime, a leading global AI company that develops AI technologies, is seen during 2021 China Content Broadcasting Network Exhibition at China International Exhibition Center on Jin Shanghai, China. Thursday’s twin announcements came a week after Treasury slapped similar economic sanctions against two Chinese politicians and a Chinese artificial intelligence firm, SenseTime. The news was widely expected after being first reported by the Financial Times earlier this week.ĭJI and the seven other companies are already on the US entity list, which means they are barred from buying US products or importing American technology without a special license.ĭozens of Chinese companies and organizations were added to that export blacklist by the US Commerce Department on Thursday, in a bid to limit China’s use of US technologies for military purposes and for alleged human rights violations. ![]() financial system and American investors are not supporting these activities.” “Treasury remains committed to ensuring that the U.S. “Today’s action highlights how private firms in China’s defense and surveillance technology sectors are actively cooperating with the government’s efforts to repress members of ethnic and religious minority groups,” said Brian Nelson, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. The US Treasury Department announced Thursday that it has placed investment restrictions on the firms due to their roles in facilitating human rights abuses against China’s Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and other ethnic and religious minorities.Īs a result, American investors will be barred from buying or selling shares of the companies. The United States has added drone maker DJI and seven other Chinese companies to an investment blacklist, raising even more pressure on businesses in the world’s second largest economy.
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