The U.S. Department of Defense adds Alibaba, Baidu, BYD and UBTECH to the list of companies that "support the Chinese military"

The U.S. Pentagon recently added Alibaba, Baidu, BYD and robotics company Unitree to a list of entities accused of "supporting the Chinese military." This means that the U.S. Department of Defense may further tighten business dealings between U.S. companies and the above-mentioned companies, which is also seen as another signal of heightened tensions between the U.S. and Chinese governments.

This list is called the "1260H List". The name comes from the specific provisions establishing this mechanism in the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. It is regarded as one of the tools for the United States to implement restrictive measures against China's technology industry. Prior to this, U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly used tariffs to put economic pressure on China during his two terms, including imposing 100% tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China.

The updated 1260H list was briefly published in the Federal Register in February this year, then removed without explanation, and is now published again. Bloomberg reported that the list briefly appeared and was disclosed.

With this adjustment, most of China's leading artificial intelligence companies have been included in the list, including Tencent, which was added last year. At the same time, Trump recently publicly stated that he is considering whether the United States should hold equity stakes in the country’s top artificial intelligence companies, thereby further intervening in the competitive landscape in this field.

According to the latest update, the 1260H list currently covers 188 companies. Among the new companies added this year, in addition to BYD, there are also companies related to the automotive industry chain such as Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio, battery company CALB Group and EVE Energy. Robosense, China's leading lidar manufacturer, is also on the list this time, and its competitor Hesai Technology has been on the list before. Baidu is regarded as an important player in China's autonomous driving technology and has also become one of the new targets.

The report pointed out that as these large platform companies, new energy vehicle companies, and sensor and robot companies are gradually included, the U.S. government may introduce more restrictive measures in the future in terms of investment restrictions, export controls, government procurement, and cooperation with U.S. companies. Alibaba, Baidu, BYD, NIO and Sagitar Jutron had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.