Huawei is giving $300 million a year to universities with no strings attached

Its new fundamental research division could help the company regain international favor and outmaneuver the US, writes Karen Hao.

Mixed messages: The US’s stance on China’s Huawei has become very confused in the past week. On Saturday, Trump promise to ease restrictions on the company. But by Tuesday, an email sent to the Commerce Department’s enforcement staff reiterated Huawei is still blacklisted.

In the meantime: Huawei isn’t taking any chances. It’s launched a new global research strategy, which could help it reduce dependence on the US. As part of this, it will pour $300 million a year into university labs around the world over the next five to 10 years.

Back to basics: Its aim is to advance research in areas like optical computing, better algorithms and more efficient databases. Ultimately, these advancements would then feed back into Huawei’s products. Read the full story here.