Trump promises to look into Peter Thiel's claim that Google may have committed treason

Advertisement
Trump promises to look into Peter Thiel's claim that Google may have committed treason

Advertisement
donald trump pointing

REUTERS/Jim Young

Donald Trump.

  • Donald Trump said he's going to look into claims made by Peter Thiel that Google's relationship with China is "seemingly treasonous."
  • Thiel is a prominent supporter of Trump and the president said in a tweet on Tuesday that he is a "brilliant guy who knows this subject better than anyone."
  • Thiel called on the FBI and CIA to investigate Google. It is not clear from Trump's tweet how his administration will pursue the matter.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Donald Trump has promised to look into claims made by billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel that Google has potentially committed treason.

Thiel floated the idea that Google's relationship with China is "seemingly treasonous" during a speech at the National Conservatism conference in Washington on Sunday. He later doubled down on the remarks on Fox News.

Complimentary Tech Event
Transform talent with learning that works
Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

Thiel is one of Trump's most high-profile supporters in Silicon Valley and has the ear of the president. This proved to be the case on Tuesday when Trump tweeted animatedly about the Paypal cofounder's remarks.

Quoting a headline on Thiel from "Fox & Friends," Trump said: "A great and brilliant guy who knows this subject better than anyone! The Trump Administration will take a look!"

Advertisement

Thiel's raised his concerns about Google in three questions, in which he asked if executives consider themselves to be "thoroughly infiltrated" by Chinese intelligence. He suggested that Google is allowing its technology to be used by China but not the US military after it backed out of the Pentagon's AI initiative, Project Maven.

Read more: Peter Thiel slams Google's 'seemingly treasonous' links to China, which he says should be investigated in a 'not excessively gentle manner'

Thiel did not support his questions with evidence, but called on the FBI and CIA to investigate the company. It is not clear from Trump's tweet how his administration will pursue Thiel's claims.

Peter Thiel

AP Photo/Ben Margot

Peter Thiel.

Business Insider has contacted Google for comment. Google has acknowledged that work has taken place on a new search engine for China, but the company has repeatedly said that it has no plans to re-enter the country after it left in 2010.

Advertisement

Thiel's argument about Google's "treasonous" behavior plays well with Trump's support at a time when the president and many Republicans are convinced the company has an anti-conservative agenda.

The Palantir's cofounder's comments also coincide with the president waging a trade war with China in which his administration handcuffed Huawei, one of the country's biggest tech firms, by putting it on an entity blacklist.

Get the latest Google stock price here.

{{}}