Russia, China and Iran which one is the most assertive and aggressive in this area?
00:11
I believe it is China.
00:12
China more than Russia right now?
00:13
Yes.
00:14
President Trump signing two executive orders last night banning US transactions with Chinese
00:18
tech firm Tencent and ByteDance.
00:21
My name is Simone Gao, and I am a journalist working in Washington, DC. The CCP leader
00:27
Xi Jinping believe that big data is China s most important national resource. What could
00:32
they do with that advantage?
00:35
Every mobile app has a widely open back door that can do whatever they want to.
00:40
It is no secret that China prefers a Trump loss and a Biden win, but in this program,
00:47
I will uncover, in the age of AI, if there is something the Chinese Communist Party wants
00:53
far more than a Biden presidency.
01:05
This is TikTok.
01:09
It puts the world in motion and sets it to music. You create, you laugh and you share.
01:16
For much of the younger generation, this IS the world.
01:20
Owned by the Chinese technology company ByteDance, TikTok is one of the world s most popular
01:26
social media apps. It has been downloaded more than 2 billion times globally and maintains
01:32
a total of 100 million active users in the United States.
01:37
Given that the app has been around for just over 2 years, how has it become so popular
01:44
so quickly?
01:45
As I learned from AI experts, TikTok is designed to be addictive.
01:53
The first time you open it, it doesn t know what you like. It ll recommend some default
01:57
pages. Those pages are decided by your locale.
02:00
His name is Jack, and he is a former employee of Huawei, China s largest telecommunications
02:07
company. For security reasons, we ve blurred his face. Jack is a Big Data and AI expert.
02:13
When you register, it may also ask you to make some simple selections. It can guess
02:20
what your age is, your gender, and also the version of your phone s operating system,
02:24
so it can vaguely confirm your identity. According to these conditions, it may give you recommendations
02:29
for what videos you may like.
02:31
He told me that TikTok s system adds multiple tags to every video clicked on by a user.
02:37
The more videos you click, the more TikTok knows about you. Through this data collection
02:43
and their powerful algorithm, they can deliver the exact videos you like. Before you realize
02:49
the tactics, you are addicted to what they deliver.
02:54
The story of TikTok is the story of data, big Data. TikTok collects massive amounts
03:01
of data from its users. According to researchers, and as reported by Bloomberg,
03:07
TikTok starts collecting data the minute you download the app. It tracks the websites you
03:12
re browsing and how you type, down to keystroke rhythms and patterns. The app warns users
03:19
it has full access to photos, videos and contact information of friends stored in the device
03:25
s address book, unless you revoke those permissions. The app also tracks everywhere you go using
03:32
your IP address and GPS coordinates, providing the app with your precise location while working,
03:39
voting, attending protests, traveling, or simply picking up milk from the grocery store.
03:46
Are we okay with this? Through my conversations with data security experts and everyday users
03:53
of social media apps, I came to realize that most adults know that information will be
03:59
collected about them and will be used by marketing companies to target advertising effectively.
04:05
This is true of most social media platforms in America. But for Communist China, data
04:12
is handled in a very different way.
04:16
Can you compare Google, Facebook and Amazon s methods of collecting data with that of
04:23
TikTok?
04:24
Google is, as I mentioned, compared to all the others, it actually collects the information
04:28
more aggressively for the commercial purpose. But, remember its commercial purposes, it
04:33
does not use that to hack you or do something like that, right? But TikTok is a different
04:38
story. TikTok is kind of a dangerous animal, because TikTok collects the data, uses the
04:44
data to improve their algorithm.
04:47
This is James Qiu, a former Apple executive. He explains how China collects data differently
04:54
from the Americans.
04:55
China, you know that there is no privacy. I mean, who cares? Right? So, the company
05:00
actually collects every single thing of persons. And, because of that, because they have the
05:06
capability of collecting all the information from a person and they can actually train
05:13
their deep learning model to be perfect.
05:16
In this case, U.S. companies and Western companies cannot compete with them. The privacy law
05:22
said if one company has 10 different apps, the information collected by each app can
05:30
only be used by each app. You cannot combine them and interrelate them and then synthesize
05:37
new data out of them. Okay. So, that is significantly restricted. But for a Chinese company, there
05:45
is no such a rule. That's why they can build a better recommendation algorithm, this is
05:52
a very dangerous company. When it collects your data, they know who you are, they know
05:56
what you like and dislike. They can actually manipulate you.
06:02
Narration: In other words, while TikTok does aggressively collect its own data, its powerful
06:08
algorithm may not be built solely on data collected within the app. TikTok s Chinese
06:14
parent company, ByteDance, has been proven to be a data vacuum entity, amassing a large
06:19
amount of user data, not only from its three popular apps but also from its many tech partners.
06:28
Narration: According to James, the intention of the TikTok s algorithm is to encourage
06:35
a compulsive use of their app. Once it becomes a compulsion, users are more likely to be
06:42
manipulated. Messaging hidden in seemingly harmless videos goes well beyond making money.
06:49
TikTok represents a model the CCP is using to influence the world. Retired U.S. Air Force
06:57
Brigadier General Robert Spalding explained to me the CCP s grand vision for Big Data
07:03
and AI:
07:04
So Kaifu Lee says that China seeks to become the Saudi Arabia of data. So, think about
07:10
the entire world's data and collection of that data as being tantamount to having power
07:17
over the world. This is the way that the Chinese communist party sees the global internet.
07:22
Globalization is connected to this... That's why Xi Jinping goes to Davos and says, We
07:26
must work together. We must continue globalization. We must continue this global connectivity
07:32
Because it enables him to take the data into China behind the great firewall and create
07:38
this huge data ocean that then their artificial intelligence can learn from.
07:43
So, this is their goal, because they know that they can use that, just like TikTok is
07:48
used as a platform to influence. They can use that to influence not only their own people,
07:53
to basically not know the true history of China, but also to influence the rest of the
07:59
world. This is the power that, quite frankly, we built. Silicon Valley built this power.
08:06
We built it and made hundreds, trillions of dollars. The Chinese Communist Party saw that
08:12
and said, not only do we want to have control over that economic engine, we want to have
08:18
the ability to influence socially and politically as well. This is really the convergence of
08:23
technology and warfare for the 21st century.
08:28
The Chinese Communist Party has been seeking an ideal time to test its AI advantage. An
08:34
ideal time to see if their AI can be used to manipulate a world power, specifically
08:40
the U.S. That time is now. Leaders on both sides of the political aisle agree that the
08:52
2020 election is one of the most important since the nation s founding. It is critical
08:58
that the U.S. heed its intelligence community s warning that China is now actively seeking
09:04
to influence the outcome of the election.
09:08
National Security Adviser Robert O Brien told CBS s Face the Nation on August 9th that China
09:14
and Russia are targeting the nation s election infrastructure with cyberattacks.
09:18
I want to ask you this specifically because the intelligence community issued this very
09:22
sharp warning on Friday detailing efforts to interfere. Looking at the statement from
09:28
July 24th though, the language there says the adversaries were trying to access candidates
09:33
private communications and election infrastructure. And that s at both the state and federal networks.
09:42
That sounds awful a lot like what Russia did back in 2016. Now it is happening under your
09:48
watch. What are you doing to stop it?
09:51
What we are doing is getting our cyber team in place. DHS is working very hard to try
09:55
to track down those malign actors.
09:59
Is it Russia again?
10:01
Look, we know it s China, we know it's Russia.
10:04
Tempering in the election infrastructure?
10:06
Absolutely, trying to access secretary of state websites that sort of thing and collect
10:11
data on Americans and engage in influence operations, whether it is on TikTok, Twitter
10:16
or other spaces.It is a real concern Marcia. It is not just Russia, the Chinese don t want
10:23
the president to win.
10:24
So, a lot of conversation about you and your latest move. Let s talk about that.
10:30
In an August 17th statement to Fox News, Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe,
10:36
revealed that China poses a greater national security threat to the U.S. than any other
10:41
nation economically, militarily and technologically. That includes threats of election influence
10:48
and interference.
10:50
Two weeks later, on September 2nd, Attorney General William Barr nailed down the Chinese
10:56
interference once more:
10:58
Of those 3 countries the intelligence community has pointed to Russia, China and Iran which
11:03
one is the most assertive and aggressive in this area?
11:07
I believe it is China.
11:09
Which one?
11:10
China.
11:11
China more than Russia right now?
11:12
Yes.
11:13
Why do you say that?
11:14
Because I have seen the intelligence, and that s what I concluded.
11:15
What are they trying to do?
11:16
I am not going to get into the intelligence.
11:17
Who do they want to help with?
11:19
I am not going to get into that.
11:25
David Kamioner. a former member of the U.S. Army Intelligence, told me more of the Intelligence
11:31
community s insights:
11:32
What the CCP wants is turmoil in America, because that could create paralysis for America
11:37
on the world stage. It's almost a political extortion. If you don't elect Biden, the riots
11:43
will continue. If you don't like Biden, the Chinese, or perhaps the Iranians could move
11:48
somewhere and give us a national security crisis. So, the CCP clearly wants Joe Biden
11:53
to win. And they are doing everything they can with data with AI and other areas to make
11:57
sure he does.
11:58
If they have to pick between Biden victory, and maybe it creates this chaotic America,
12:06
which one do you think they will pick?
12:08
They can have both because if Biden wins, the right will not stand out. Hopefully there
12:13
won't be violence as the left, is perpetrating on the streets of America today. But the right
12:19
will become even more aggressive, which means there'll be more turmoil. There'll be more
12:23
violence on the streets from America. There'll be more riots. Hopefully again, not from the
12:25
right. In fact, Kamala Harris said recently that if she is elected, even if she and Joe
12:30
Biden are elected, the riots should not stop, nor should they stop. So, you can have both
12:36
Biden, you can have paralysis, you can have turmoil.
12:39
David told me the fact that the Chinese players are trying to hack into the Secretary of State
12:44
websites is particularly concerning because those offices are responsible for administering
12:51
elections at the local level.
12:53
They're trying to get access literally to election results. Now these are...in every
12:56
American state there is a Secretary of State's office at the state level, that coordinates
13:00
elections. That goes down to county election offices and bureaus. What they can do, not
13:04
only in state elections, but even in local elections, if they can hack in, they can change
13:08
results for close elections. They can gain biographical material on voters. They could
13:13
get voter turnout records. They could strike at the very basis of the American democratic
13:19
process. It's a very, very dangerous game they're playing. Now, do our people like the
13:23
FBI and, say, other people know they're doing this? Yes, they do. But, it's a race to see
13:29
who is more technologically adept and who is paying attention. We better hope we win
13:34
this one.
13:35
From U.S. intelligence about Russian efforts to cast doubts on mail-in ballots.
13:40
In watching the news coverage of election interference, I came to realize that when
13:45
the American mainstream media talks about foreign meddling in U.S. elections, Russia
13:50
is still the focus. They are attentive to harms done four years ago. Yet, there is a
13:56
greater threat on the horizon. A threat backed with the technology and data necessary to
14:02
do far more damage. If U.S. citizens are truly concerned about a foreign power s ability
14:08
to influence a critical election, they should consider this example.
14:19
Thanks for everyone s help, support and care.
14:25
His name is Han Kuo-yu, Taiwan s Nationalist Party of China s presidential candidate for
14:31
2020. While initially popular as a candidate, he ultimately lost to the incumbent, President
14:38
Tsai Yingwen, largely due to Taiwan s overwhelming rejection of the Mainland Chinese government
14:44
that was backing Han.
14:46
While Han s loss was due to the Chinese Communist Party, his initial rise was their doing as
14:52
well.
14:53
The key milestone of Han s political career was his victory in the Kaohsiung mayoral race.
14:59
Han was largely unknown through the first four months of the election season. A day
15:05
after formally announcing his campaign, however, a Facebook fan group was formed. The page
15:11
promoted Han through talking points and memes, consistent sharing of fake news about his
15:17
opponent and public shaming of his critics. By election day, Han had more than 66,000
15:24
members on the fan page and received a surge of fan posts just hours before being elected
15:29
in a landslide victory.
15:31
Dr. Puma Shen, Assistant Professor at National Taipei University, did a study on Han s sudden
15:38
rise to popularity.
15:41
First, China created many websites that published and shared a large number of articles on Han-Kuoyu
15:48
and fake news on Han s opponent party: The Democratic Progressive Party. They then generated
15:53
a massive amount of search requests on Han Kuo-yu. They literally overwhelm the system
15:58
with their requests. By doing so, google s algorithm worked to push Han related news
16:03
that the CCP generated to the first two pages.
16:07
According to Dr. Shen s research, a significant percentage of the fans on Han s Facebook group
16:13
were not from Taiwan. They were from Mainland China. To further demonstrate China s involvement,
16:19
Dr. Shen s group tested Han s name on the internet for the final two months of the campaign.
16:25
They found that Taiwan was just 16th on the list of countries searching for information
16:31
on Han.
16:32
Jack told me the CCP is obviously behind the efforts and this is how they did it.
16:42
A large number of search results can come from people s natural behavior, and it can
16:46
also come from bots automatically publishing articles. They can come from IP addresses
16:51
inside China, from IP address in Taiwan, or IP addresses from any other country. In this
16:57
way, Taiwan may have less searches than other countries.
17:00
According to the Financial Times, key governmental departments in Taiwan receive tens of millions
17:07
of hacking attempts each month. Then between 2015 and 2017, that number tripled. These
17:14
attacks, intended to steal sensitive governmental data and personal information, were primarily
17:20
perpetrated by China.
17:22
Does the CCP have enough resources to do things in America that s similar to what they do
17:27
in Taiwan?
17:28
That s the scary part. They have been building in the last few decades control over our corporate
17:36
institutions, our wall street, our investment banks, our political systems, academia, our
17:43
think tank, our law firms, our PR firms, our consulting firms. You know, what we forget
17:50
is the Chinese Communist Party doesn t need to use PLA to do all of these, they can pay
17:56
Washington PR firms, they can pay Washington consultants, they can pay Washington law firms,
18:04
and they do.
18:10
The Taiwan story took a drastic turn though. Prior to the presidential election, massive
18:16
demonstrations broke out in Hong Kong against a Chinese extradition law. Those protests,
18:22
and the CCP s brutal response to them, led the Taiwanese people to reject a future under
18:28
the rule of the CCP and a president indebted to them. They chose the incumbent President
18:34
Tsai-Yingwen who, though not popular at the time, is consistently tough on the CCP.
18:40
It is safe to say, if it is not because of Hong Kong, Beijing would have secured a Taiwanese
18:47
president of their choosing.
18:49
The game to influence a major political election is complicated and can be costly. Sometimes,
18:57
it takes on the least expected form.
19:06
This is Christine, an emigrant from China, and a successful real estate agent in the
19:11
affluent Orange County area of California. Like many among the extensive Chinese diaspora
19:17
in the U.S., Christine continues to habitually use Chinese apps.
19:23
I use a lot of Chinese apps, such as WeChat, Chinese Tiktok Douyin and etc. Because it
19:31
is very convenient for me to use these apps to communicate with my friends and family
19:37
in China.
19:38
WeChat is the world s largest standalone multi-purpose mobile app with a billion active users worldwide,
19:47
mostly Chinese.
19:48
Douyin s popularity stems from its short, entertaining videos, much like sister company
19:55
TikTok. Both are owned by ByteDance but operate independently of each other, with Douyin created
20:02
for users in China and TikTok designed for international use. Christine says that news
20:08
about America has been circulating rapidly on these Chinese apps, and they all strike
20:14
one tone.
20:15
Since the Pandemic began, I found there have been a lot of negative reports about America
20:23
in these apps. Many of them are false, strange reports. They don t reflect what I know about
20:29
the situation here.
20:30
I support Trump. But what I saw on WeChat and Douyin is all negative information about
20:36
Trump. It seems there is more pro-Biden information out there.
20:42
America is the biggest threat to global stability and security.
20:45
Although Douyin uses powerful algorithms to determine your interests and target the recommended
20:52
content accordingly, algorithms are not the only factor in what Douyin shows to each user.
20:59
In China, the most posts DouYin users see are from the Party s mouthpiece - People s
21:05
daily, simply because DouYin is required by the government to push People s Daily s content
21:11
to its 500 million active users. As a result of such a powerful promotion, the People s
21:17
Daily has almost 100 million followers on Douyin today.
21:22
This is a recognizable and recurring strategy within China.
21:27
TikTok functions in a similar way to Douyin, only, instead of recommending the CCP s official
21:33
propaganda, TikTok pushes political content that comes from other app users.
21:38
Ethan, a TikTok user from the U.S., told me how it works.
21:43
Once I started using TikTok, it pushed a lot of anti-Trump or pro-Biden videos to me. But
21:51
I did not even say or select that I am interested in politics. But after a while, like I used
22:04
the app for a while, the anti-Trump video became a little bit fewer. I started to see
22:11
some pro-Trump videos as well. That might be because I did not like or follow any of
22:18
those anti-Trump videos. But the anti-Trump videos were still like 80 or 60%, around that
22:30
in the political videos. Recently it changed. It might be because that, I don t even watch
22:38
those anti-Trump videos. So, right now it is only maybe a quarter or less than that.
22:47
But there are still Anti-Trump videos pushed to me.
22:53
Tiktok has a sophisticated AI model making recommendations to its users. When a user
22:59
begins to use TikTok without being classified by the system as pro-Biden or pro-Trump. TikTok
23:06
displays neutral content to the users. I quote neutral since it is based on TikTok s standard.
23:14
In reality, there are many more pro-Biden content being displayed to the users anyhow.
23:21
Based on the data collected on the users browsing searching habit, TikTok can classify the users
23:26
as a conservative user quickly. Then it starts to display a few pro-Trump content to the
23:33
user while mixing it with various pro-Biden content. When TikTiok figures out the user
23:39
is not very interested in politics, it starts to display fewer political content.
23:47
So the goal of TikTok is to, you know, Number one, do not get this user so upset to the
23:55
degree that he just won t use TikTok anymore. But at the same time TikTok still pushes pro-Biden
24:03
content to him in a degree that he can tolerate.
24:06
James: That is absolutely right.
24:09
Three months (weeks) prior to the presidential election, a coalition of TikTok creators launched
24:17
a national TokTheVote campaign. By their own definition, the campaign is meant to empower
24:23
Gen Z to vote and to mobilize young leaders in the fight for progress. In just four weeks,
24:29
the hashtag #tokthevote had gained more than 18.2 million views.
24:35
The videos posted to that hashtag are often tied to issues of social justice and equality.
24:41
The majority of videos either express support for Biden and Harris or directly attack Trump.
24:52
Those offering support for the current administration are virtually nonexistent.
24:57
TikTok, to American popular culture, specifically to possible young voters, America, is a Trojan
25:03
horse. The CCP understands that politics, and everything they're sanctioning, is affected
25:09
by popular culture, and TikTok is a way for them to get into this.
25:13
The "TokTheVote" campaign had not yet launched when I met with David, yet he predicted this
25:19
very strategy leading into the election.
25:22
I wouldn't be surprised if close to election day, so it's a lot of young people use TikTok,
25:27
we'll see a massive "get out the vote" drive for Biden on TikTok, trying to get those young
25:32
people, might not even necessarily be specifically for Biden. It could be "get out the vote"
25:36
because they know young people tend to vote Democratic, tend to vote more liberal, and
25:39
this election cycle might tend to move for Biden. So, it is a way for them to have pop
25:45
culture goals, to have those goals come into the election process and to influence through
25:50
even small things, through movies, through entertainment, again, as we said, a lot of
25:55
CCP money to Hollywood. Through all those aspects, the American elections, because for
26:00
a very long time, popular culture has meant as much to American politics as any policy
26:05
has.
26:06
Narration: This is a proven strategy, one that has been demonstrated in movements organized
26:10
by Americans. Here is an example. On June 20, 2020, Trump held his first rally in 4
26:18
months. According to the Associated Press and the Inside Edition, 800,000 people had
26:23
registered for tickets online, but only 6200 people showed up, leaving the stadium less
26:30
than half full. TikTok users and K-Pop Stans claimed credit for the low turnout.
26:36
It is an unmitigated fact that K-Pop Stans hold so much power on the internet. I am convinced
26:45
that you guys could orchestrate a murder over twitter. That s just the power you hold. If
26:51
you guys haven t heard, Trump is planning a rally in Tulsa, Ok, on Juneteenth which
26:57
is a slap in the face to black people. Because man, it is just...because tickets are available
27:04
by two, for FREE, on his website, if you just put in your phone number. I am saying bts
27:11
stans should DO this but what I am absolutely saying is that they should absolutely go and
27:14
spam that website and take up all the tickets so they don t have any people at the rally.
27:18
Narration: K-Pop Stans originally connected as a way to share their love of K-Pop, but
27:22
their mission later broadened to include direct political activism. That activism is often
27:29
conducted on TikTok, a place where pop culture and politics best converge. This video alone
27:35
received over 2 million views.
27:38
So I recommended that all of us who want to see this 19,000 seats in the auditorium barely
27:42
filled or completely empty go reserve the tickets now and leave them standing alone
27:46
on the stage, what do you say?
27:50
Millennials and Gen Zers who are now old enough to vote wield significant political power
27:55
in the 2020 elections. Part of their power comes from their overall unity on social and
27:57
political issues, often leaning toward a liberal viewpoint. And while the younger generations
27:58
have historically been less politically active, with fewer than half voting in the 2016 election,
28:04
this year looks to be different. That difference may stem from their ability to form coalitions,
28:05
as TikTok enables them to do, and to see the results of their collective action, as was
28:06
true in the Trump rally takedown.
28:07
What impact might they have on the election? A substantial one. There are 86 million Millennials
28:13
and Gen Zers who are eligible to vote, representing 37% of all 235 million voters. How many of
28:22
them use TikTok? We don t really know, but we do know that 63% of the 100 million active
28:29
users in the U.S. are under the age of 30.
28:32
The youth have, to date, not had the political impact they were capable of. TikTok just might
28:38
change that in 2020.
28:42
Do you think TikTok can influence people s political opinions?
28:51
TikTok has the potential of influence people with the manipulated information. They are
28:56
good at it. It inherits the AI model of Toutiao which is Bytedance s popular news platform.
29:04
Toutiao helps the Chinese government monitor and manipulate mass opinions.
29:08
So in that sense, do you think TikTok has the potential to influence the American people
29:16
s political stance during the election.
29:18
What TikTok needs to do is to fine tune the AI model using the data they collected from
29:23
the western country. It is a piece of cake for TikTok.
29:30
This is what I have learned so far: The danger the CCP poses to the U.S. through TikTok is
29:36
two-fold. First, it uses pop culture as a trojan horse in order to influence the younger
29:41
generation. Second, it uses collected American data to perfect its AI model for further manipulation
29:48
in this country.
29:52
On September 28th, Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C revoked
29:58
the Trump Administration s ban on TikTok, leaving it available for download in U.S.
30:03
app stores through November 12th.
30:06
The Trump administration originally demanded that TikTok be sold to an American company
30:11
or face a complete ban within the U.S.. A proposal emerged between TikTok, Oracle and
30:19
Walmart, but despite an early signal of support from Trump, questions over exact ownership
30:25
percentages and the data hosting arrangement suspended the deal.
30:28
I talked to a Huawei expert about this prospect of, uh, Oracle, uh, owning part of the company
30:29
overseas. you know, oversees, the security operation oversees their coding and everything.
30:30
And he said, as long as bite dance is still a main stakeholder there, uh, technician Chinese
30:31
technicians are still writing the code. There are managers overseeing the daily operation
30:32
and they are participating in the decision making, risks cannot be eliminated at all.
30:33
I mean, the Chinese, no matter how good the deal looks like on the surface, do you agree?
30:34
By allowing the Chinese communist party to have any interest whatsoever, whether it's
30:35
in understanding the technology, or it is in allowing people to actually physically
30:39
touch the code or the hardware where the code runs, it's all vulnerable.
30:47
TikTok s use of a powerful Chinese algorithm, and the resulting collection of user data,
30:52
has revealed another possibility: the likelihood that apps from China may be operating with
30:58
secret access keys, master passwords, and secret commands, called backdoors. In spite
31:04
of that risk, James told me that thousands of Chinese apps are accepted in the Apple
31:09
and Google app stores every year without a proper vetting process.
31:13
So, how does Apple vet Chinese apps that are trying to enter its app store?
31:18
A lot of Chinese apps actually sneaked into the U.S. app store as if it is native. Right?
31:26
So that is the first problem. The second problem is when Apple app store checks the apps, it
31:33
checks very basic stuff. So, basically, Apple published a set of rules, and every mobile
31:40
app needs to follow those rules. Apple only checks off those kinds of things, but as for
31:46
whether the app is kind of tracking the customer behavior and you know send the private data
31:55
into a third party server, or use that for commercial purposes or other purposes, Apple
32:02
has no way to check it. So, in that sense, every mobile app has a widely open back door
32:11
that can do whatever they want to.
32:13
Silicon Valley may be the country s best line of defense against malicious apps from China.
32:18
But they seem uninterested in that responsibility.
32:22
How much control or how much reign does the national security establishment have on the
32:29
Silicon Valley?
32:30
None, zero. In fact, a Silicon Valley despises the national security establishment. Now there's
32:37
a few people that have worked within, um, government, but what happens is many of them
32:42
are entrepreneurs or people that think outside of the box. And of course, what you find when
32:47
you come to Washington, D C is it abhores, you know, people that think outside of the
32:51
box, they want conformity and they want you to be, be bureaucratic. So, they don't tend
32:55
to last very long and they don't tend to make much headway because in order to actually
33:00
innovate in government, you have to have patience. You have to be wily and you have to kind of
33:05
figure out where is the way that you can actually make, um, you know, progress happen. There's
33:11
not a lot of people that are willing to do that because they get frustrated by the bureaucracy.
33:18
In 2017, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, announced a bold
33:25
plan for Beijing. He predicted that China would catch up with the United States in AI
33:32
by 2025 and lead the world by 2030. China may have reached that goal earlier than they
33:39
had planned. Although America still leads in cutting-edge AI technology, China has surpassed
33:45
America in AI application. They accomplished this by collecting far more data. More data
33:52
means better AI.
33:54
I believe that, in the eyes of Xi Jinping and his colleagues, Big Data and AI are more
33:59
than just another curious technology. Xi openly stated that Big Data is the most critical
34:06
national resource for China. Why would he believe so? Likely because the CCP knows exactly
34:13
what Big Data and AI are capable of, how they can be used to control over their own people
34:19
and manipulate other countries. Best of all, the Party is confident that their political
34:25
system guarantees China a reliable advantage in data collecting and AI application over
34:31
the free world.
34:33
I mean what do you think is the biggest strength America still has today over China?
34:41
The constitution. I think the constitution, as an idea, as a foundation for how to build
34:49
a society, a blueprint, if you will, for how to build a human society, where you have human
34:55
frailty and you have to deal with it, and you have to ensure that the way you deal with
35:00
that is to ensure that no human or humans can have ultimate power. I think that is the
35:05
strength of America. Our total existence as a free society, where people are allowed to
35:13
live as they want and reach their, to present potential is at risk from the tools that we
35:19
ourselves built. And the Chinese communist party have appropriate and begun to, you know,
35:25
use extensively to undermine our society.
35:31
It has been 244 years since this nation was founded. At that time, a claim was made.
35:40
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed
35:46
by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty
35:53
and the pursuit of happiness.
35:54
I believe if these claims are true, they must be true then, true during the civil war and
36:02
true today.
36:03
If you go back to the founding of this country, it wasn't everybody that decided, Hey, we
36:09
wanted a free country. It was a few, it was a determined few that were not going to be
36:14
subjugated, that they were going to stand up for their rights. And they were going to
36:18
find other people that were like-minded and they were going to work together to build
36:22
this new land. And those people exist today. We just have not been fighting to get, so
36:31
yes, absolutely. We can win. We just have to stand up and fight.
36:47
Fighting together. Democrats and Republicans.
37:19
Absolutely.
English (United States)
