Page 24 - AT

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Friday 8 November 2019

In this file photo dated Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017, U.S. chief
technology officer at the White House Michael Kratsios attends
a press conference during a G7 Industry ministers meeting, in
Turin, Italy.
Associated Press
Trump adviser

warns China exporting

tech authoritarianism In this Friday, Oct. 25, 2019 file photo, a team from Korea, on the right, competes with UAE Falcons
during the First Global Challenge, a robotics and artificial intelligence competition in Dubai,
United Arab Emirates.
LONDON (AP) — U.S. Presi- tarianism abroad," and Associated Press
dent Donald Trump's tech- specifically cited tech gi- By ARON HELLER more progressive image with the West.
nology adviser warned ant Huawei. Associated Press The Emirati government this year is mark-
Thursday about China ex- The U.S. has been lobby- JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister ing what it calls “The Year of Tolerance,”
porting authoritarianism ing allies to shun Huawei, Benjamin Netanyahu greeted the coun- which has included rabbis attending its in-
globally in parallel with its which it says can be forced try’s triumphant teen delegation to the un- terfaith events. Rulers have also given tacit
rise as a tech power. under a national security official “Robotics Olympics” on Wednes- approval to the growth of the local Jewish
Michael Kratsios, the U.S. law to facilitate Chinese day after its groundbreaking visit to Dubai, community in Dubai — the first new one in
chief technology officer, cyberespionage, though giving public expression to the growing, the Arab world in decades — and have
told a major technology the company has repeat- and increasingly open, relations between pledged to build a massive multi-faith
conference, "if we don't edly denied the allega- Israel and the United Arab Emirates. complex that includes a synagogue.
act now, Chinese influence tions. Kratsios said that de- The countries have long had back-chan- Emirati authorities have allowed Israeli of-
and control of technology spite the risks, Western busi- nel security and cyber ties, mostly based ficials to visit and the Israeli national an-
will not only undermine the nesses are still considering on their shared enmity for regional foe them was played after an athlete won
freedoms of their own citi- "opening their arms to Chi- Iran. Israeli businessmen and tourists have gold in an Abu Dhabi judo tournament.
zens, but all citizens of the nese companies" to build made clandestine visits to the oil-rich fed- Next year, Israel is expected to have a
world." next generation mobile eration of sheikhdoms, using foreign pass- prominent pavilion in Expo 2020, the world
Kratsios's speech at Portu- networks and develop key ports and downplaying their identities. fair being hosted by Dubai. On Tuesday,
gal's Web Summit was the technologies like artificial But the UAE’s issuing formal travel visas to the Israeli Yediot Ahronot daily splashed a
latest salvo in the U.S.-Chi- intelligence. the Israeli robotics team and extending an front-page headline that the UAE would
na battle for global tech Huawei rejected what overtly warm welcome added a new lay- allow the arrival of tourists on Israeli pass-
dominance. it called Kratsios' "false er of formality. The team’s high-profile per- ports for the Expo.
He claimed that while the claims." formance at the FIRST Global Challenge Last week’s robotics competition served
U.S. and its allies have been "Cybersecurity and privacy — finishing second after being edged as a sort of dry run.
cooperating to develop protection are and will re- out in a nail-biting, back-and-forth final — The team of five Israeli teenagers and
technology for good, Chi- main Huawei's top priori- and their unabashed display of the Israeli their coaches were participating in a ro-
na's government "contin- ties," the company said in a flag and Hebrew language also gave the botics tournament that included 1,500
ues extending its authori- statement.q event an increased sense of normalization. students from 190 other countries. The
The teens arrived to their meeting with Ne- events revolved around using robotics to
Amazon to open new robotics tanyahu with the robot they assembled solve global ocean pollution. In attend-
ing the event, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick
and posed for photos with the prime min-
hub outside Boston in 2021 ister while wearing their silver medals. Ne- Perry specifically mentioned the presence
tanyahu said their participation was “in- of the Israeli team as a hopeful message,
WESTBOROUGH, Mass. be a place where robots dicative of what is above water” in Israel’s as did Emirati officials themselves — who
(AP) — Amazon says it are designed, built, pro- relations with the Gulf states. have sought to promote Dubai in particu-
plans to open a $40 mil- grammed and shipped. “You went there with robotics and tech- lar as a hub of innovation that draws in the
lion robotics innovation Amazon's robotics divi- nology, but the reason why the State of world’s brightest minds.
hub west of Boston. sion has been focused Israel has forged ties with many countries “It’s not just combating ocean pollution in
The technology giant said on making warehouse ro- in the first place is because we have tech- the UAE,” Omar al-Olama, the Emirati Min-
Wednesday the complex bots that stack and move nologies and capabilities against a com- ister of Artificial Intelligence, told The As-
will open in 2021 in West- goods at its distribution mon enemy in both the security and ci- sociated Press in Dubai. “It’s ocean pollu-
borough, Massachusetts. centers. vilian spheres,” he said, in a thinly veiled tion everywhere and bringing the best kids
Amazon says the expan- Massachusetts has been reference to Iran. from every single facet of life from every
sion will create about the center for Amazon's Like most of the Arab world, the UAE does single country in the world.”
200 tech and advanced robotics research since not acknowledge Israel diplomatically, The Israeli team, hailing from Megiddo in
manufacturing jobs. Tye the company acquired and says the lack of a Palestinian state northern Israel, surged through the com-
Brady is Amazon Robot- North Reading-based is an obstacle toward full normalization. petition by assembling a roving robot that
ics' chief technologist. Kiva Systems for $775 mil- However, it has also been leading efforts effectively scooped balls up that repre-
He says the new hub will lion in 2012.q to drop the Arab world’s historic animos- sented human-created pollutants in the
ity toward Israel as part of burnishing a ocean.q