The US unit of Softbank Group Corp-backed robotics start-up CloudMinds Technology Inc (達闥科技) has changed its name to distance itself from the blacklisted China-based firm, two people with knowledge of the matter said, and is selling face-scanning temperature monitors through T-Mobile US Inc.
The unit is selling its cloud-connected products under the new name at a time of heightened concern in the US about the national security risk of Chinese firms collecting and using the personal data of US citizens.
Documents filed in California showed that the unit became Wright Robotics Inc in August, after the US in May added CloudMinds to its so-called entity list, citing the risk of the firm procuring items and technology for China’s military.
Photo: Reuters
The US can restrict sales to blacklisted firms of goods made domestically as well as goods made abroad containing US technology.
In April, it expanded the definition of military end-use to include any firm that supported the maintenance or production of military items even if they primarily did commercial business.
CloudMinds has since been bailed out by a state-backed fund in Shanghai as part of Chinese government action to prop up such firms, two other people familiar with the matter said.
It has also been on a promotional drive by marketing its technology as a COVID-19 countermeasure, with the US rebranding to Wright Robotics an attempt to avoid negative baggage associated with the CloudMinds name, the first two sources said.
Wright Robotics markets its temperature scanners as designed in California. Advertised features include facial recognition, data management, remote monitoring and, with its most advanced models, the ability to scan large numbers of people at locations such as transport hubs and shopping centers.
It is not clear how much personal data the devices can collect.
Neither Wright Robotics nor CloudMinds — which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, but has the bulk of its workforce and revenue in China — responded to requests for comment.
In support of the devices, a testimonial on Wright Robotics’ home page from “Sheila H.” reads: “We decided to get this one because their company is in California. I saw other products have an issue with tech support or after-sales because the sellers are in China.”
The US Department of Commerce, which blacklisted CloudMinds, declined to comment. Softbank declined to comment. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The firm was blocked from exporting US technology to China last year before the blacklisting, and laid off most of its US staff. During a failed attempt to list in the US, it identified its local unit as CloudMinds Technology Inc.
Filings signed by its head of US operations, Karl Zhao (趙柯), showed that CloudMinds became Harix Cloud Robotics Inc in July and then Wright Robotics in August. Zhao is listed on LinkedIn as Wright Robotics’ president.
The unit partnered with Sprint Corp, owned by Softbank until the April closure of the wireless carrier’s merger with T-Mobile US.
Softbank retains a stake in the merged entity.
Wright Robotics touts its scanners as “T-Mobile 4G LTE ready” and sells them through the T-Mobile IoT Marketplace.
T-Mobile US declined to comment.
Weeks before the blacklisting, but after Reuters reported its export restrictions, CloudMinds was granted a US$1 million to US$2 million loan under a pandemic aid program, US Department of the Treasury data from August showed.
A spokeswoman for the lender, Silicon Valley Bank, declined to comment beyond pointing to the bank’s “robust compliance program.”
A spokesman for the US Small Business Administration, which approves the loans, declined to comment on individual cases.
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