According to Nikkei, in a trial starting December 15, three Wendy’s hamburger shops in Tokyo will allow users to pay for their orders using a system powered by SenseTime facial recognition technology, which is licensed for one subsidiary of SoftBank’s mobile unit.
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Three Wendy’s hamburger shops apply payment system using SenseTime’s facial recognition technology screen capture Yuki Kohara/Nikkei |
SenseTime is scheduled to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 17. However, the initial public offering (IPO), aiming to raise $767 million, was forced to pause on December 13, after the US blacklisted SenseTime for investment in the next punitive move. for the company.
SoftBank is SenseTime’s second-largest shareholder, with the Vision Fund holding a 14.9% stake. Unlike previous US companies that backed SenseTime, SoftBank continued to invest in the Chinese AI firm even when Washington first sanctioned the company in 2019. The Japanese conglomerate gave $235 million in rounds funding the next two years for SenseTime through the Vision Fund. In addition, Japan Computer Vision (JCV), a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank Corp, has deployed SenseTime’s algorithm across Japan to scan faces and body temperature at restaurants and gyms. gym, office.
The US sanctions against SenseTime stem from allegations that its facial recognition technology is used to identify and oppress the Uighur ethnic group in the Xinjiang border region, northwest China. SenseTime countered on December 11, calling the allegations “baseless”. In its IPO prospectus, SenseTime said the 2019 sanctions were only applied to its subsidiary Beijing SenseTime and not to other divisions of the group.
According to a JCV representative, the US Entity List is not limited to companies in the US or Japan that use SenseTime’s technology. The person added that customer information collected by JCV is stored on a server in Japan, not shared with the Chinese government. SenseTime is a technology partner. Business and solutions developed and operated by JCV.
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According to SenseTime’s prospectus, the JCV distributor generated 164.4 million yuan (about $25.82 million) in revenue last year. SoftBank Group accounts for 187.9 million yuan of SenseTime’s total annual revenue, or 5.5% of total revenue. SenseTime said JCV has signed up “an increasing number of large and reputable corporate customers” from industries including retail, construction, logistics, public transport and pharmaceuticals.
How SoftBank supports foreign tech companies
The SenseTime case is an example of how SoftBank supports foreign tech companies, both as investors and as business partners. The Japanese telecom group also made similar deals for other companies in its portfolio, including US co-working space operator WeWork and Indian hotel group Oyo.
Founded in 2014, SenseTime has grown into one of the world’s leading facial recognition companies. The company’s AI algorithms earned the highest scores for accuracy in a test conducted by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. In addition to facial recognition, the system can read facial expressions, gestures and body temperature.
In 2018, SoftBank’s Vision Fund spent $754.29 million on SenseTime, helping the Chinese company continue to invest in research and development. In August 2019, SenseTime granted JCV the right to import, distribute and sell hardware and software products in Japan. Currently, JCV’s cloud-based product can store facial data of up to 20 million people.
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