Japan’s SoftBank Vision Fund is negotiating a $1bn investment in Chinese facial recognition technology company Megvii, known for its Face++ platform. The deal could potentially increase Megvii’s valuation to $3.5bn. Megvii’s technology is used by Alibaba’s payment affiliate Alipay, and the company is planning to expand into areas such as retail, healthcare and driverless cars. However, Megvii’s technology has also been linked to China’s surveillance state. While SoftBank’s potential investment is seen as a vote of confidence, it also raises questions about the ethics of investing in facial recognition technology. The deal comes as SoftBank is under scrutiny for its ties to Saudi Arabia following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. SoftBank’s Vision Fund is heavily backed by Saudi money, and the company’s close relationship with the kingdom has been controversial.
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