Governor Greg Abbott has updated the list of prohibited technologies for state employees and devices in Texas. The update, made with input from Texas Cyber Command (TXCC) Chief Vice Admiral TJ White (USN, Ret.), adds new restrictions on physical hardware, artificial intelligence, and software connected to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“Rogue actors across the globe who wish harm on Texans should not be allowed to infiltrate our state’s network and devices,” Governor Abbott stated. “Hostile adversaries harvest user data through AI and other applications and hardware to exploit, manipulate, and violate users and put them at extreme risk. Today, I am expanding the prohibited technologies list to mitigate that risk and protect the privacy of Texans from the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese Communist Party, and any other hostile foreign actors who may attempt to undermine the safety and security of Texas.”
Governor Abbott addressed a letter to Texas Department of Public Safety Colonel Freeman Martin, Texas Department of Information Resources Interim Director Tony Sauerhoff, and Chief White. In this letter, he designated TXCC as the lead agency responsible for identifying additional technology threats to state information.
Chief White commented: “The Governor and the Legislature gave a clear mission for the Texas Cyber Command – protect Texans from hostile foreign nations and cyber threat actors. As TXCC works to stand up its full arsenal of operational assets, we are pleased to lead this effort to prevent cyber attacks that have the potential to exfiltrate sensitive information to bad actors across the globe.”
The TXCC was established by Governor Abbott in June as a measure against cyber threats. It is now recognized as the largest state-based cybersecurity department in America.
Following a threat assessment conducted by TXCC at Governor Abbott’s direction, several companies were added to Texas’ prohibited technology list. These include SenseTime, Megvii, CloudWalk, Autel, CATL, Wuhan Geosun LiDAR, Yitu, iFlytek, Uniview, Zhipu (Z.ai), Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (BAAI), Alibaba, Xiaomi, Gotion High Tech , Baidu, RoboSense LiDAR, TP-Link, Hisense, TCL , Baichuan , StepFun , MiniMax , PDD (Pinduoduo , Temu), Shein , Moonshot AI , NucTech .
