The daily business briefing: February 14, 2020

Prosecutors file more charges against Huawei, a judge halts a Microsoft military contract contested by Amazon, and more 

The Microsoft HQ
(Image credit: Ron Wurzer/Getty Images)

1. Prosecutors accuse Huawei of stealing trade secrets

Federal prosecutors have filed new charges that were unsealed Thursday accusing Chinese telecommunications gear maker Huawei of stealing trade secrets. Huawei already faces charges of stealing intellectual property, wire fraud, and obstruction of justice. In the new case, Huawei USA and Futurewei, two subsidiaries that were located in the U.S. at the time, allegedly took technology from six American companies by breaking confidentiality agreements it had with them. The theft allowed Huawei to "drastically cut its research and development costs and associated delays, giving the company a significant and unfair competitive advantage," prosecutors said in a press release. Andy Purdy, the chief security officer for Huawei in the U.S., said the charges were part of a "campaign to carpet bomb Huawei out of existence."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.