Optica, The Washington-Based Non-Profit Found Accepting Funds From Huawei, Faces Deeper Investigation From U.S. Lawmakers Over Ties With Chinese Entity

Huawei and Optica were previously reported to have cut ties, likely due to U.S. pressure, but that has not stopped lawmakers from prying deeper into their investigation. The top Republican and Democrat on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, Frank Lucas and Zoe Lofgren, have criticized Optica CEO Elizabeth Rogan for actively engaging with an entity that has been on the U.S. trade ban and believes that the initial responses provided by the company have been inconsistent with the latest findings.

U.S. lawmakers state that Optica did not properly acknowledge the full extent of Huawei’s influence during the two’s earlier alliance

To recap on what transpired previously, Huawei was found to be quietly funding global research and academics and was funneling money through Optica Foundation, a Washington-based non-profit. Huawei was discovered to have awarded millions in prize money to scientists since 2022, with Optica’s Board of Directors aware of the arrangement between the two parties.

Elizabeth Rogan responded earlier that this practice was nothing unusual. Now, as reported by Bloomberg, the two U.S. lawmakers already mentioned above sent a follow-up letter to Rogan, requesting responses to unanswered questions about how Optica characterized its business relationship with Huawei. The rest of the details are given below.

While Huawei was not available to comment, an Optica spokesperson said that it will continue cooperating with the congressional inquiry and that ‘scientific and engineering organizations have always worked with colleagues and countries around the globe to advance exploration and discovery.’ Optica later returned the funds to Huawei, which the committee said was a positive development but did not completely relieve their concerns.

Given the ever-growing hostility between the U.S. and China, Optica has been accused of being aware of the security risk of partnering with an overseas company that is included in the trade sanctions. Elizabeth