Is China An AI Security Concern?

This past week, the Interior Department ordered the grounding of its drone fleet that was made in China or contained Chinese parts. This comes on the heels of similar actions taken by the Department of Homeland Security in May and the United States Army in 2017. While political pundits credit the ban to the Trump administration's policy initiatives against the Asian superpower, many cybersecurity analysts cite legitimate security concerns. As a result, there is a bipartisan bill pending, The American Security Drone Act of 2019, to ban all Federal agencies from using any Chinese-made aerial vehicles. As Senator Richard Blumenthal explains, "Like it or not, drones are our future. Without Congressional action, adversaries like China and Iran will use drone technology as tiny Trojan Horses to spy on our government, our critical infrastructure – even our hospitals and homes. This bill will ensure that we don't send China and others a gold-plated, flying invitation to steal our intellectual property, undermine our domestic technology, and spy on our communities."