Google wants to work with Huawei without license approved by the US government

Google has warned if the US administration moves ahead with a sweeping ban on Huawei, it risks compromising national security, the FT reported on Thursday.

Senior executives at Google are pushing US officials to exempt it from a ban on exports to Huawei without permission approved by the government, according to FT.

While the bans are expected to hurt the Chinese company in the short term, industry experts say it could force Huawei and other Chinese company to become independent by developing more home-grown technologies, damaging the dominance of the US companies such as Google in the longer term.

Due to the ban, Google would not be permitted to update its Android OS on Huawei devices, which it argues would prompt Huawei to develop its own version of the software, FT reported.

Additionally, Google argued a Huawei-modified version of Android would be more susceptible to being hacked.

Google said (via FT): “Like other US companies, we’re engaging with the Department of Commerce to ensure we’re in full compliance with its requirements and temporary licence. Our focus is protecting the security of Google users on the millions of existing Huawei handsets in the US and around the world.”

Previously, Huawei has said it would be able to develop its own OS “very quickly”.

In May, The US government added Huawei to a trade blacklist. The move put Huawei and 68 affiliates in more than two dozen countries on the Entity List.

After the ban, Google stopped business with Huawei, cutting it off from potential updates to Android OS. Later, the government has granted a 90-day stay for companies to provide services.