White House memo says Alibaba helping Chinese military to target US: report

A White House memo has stated that Alibaba has been providing tech support for the "operations" of the Chinese military against targets that are in the United States, the Financial Times has reported.

The memo also includes "top secret" intelligence on how the e-commerce company is able to provide data to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) that may also threaten US national security. The report raises concerns with the tech giant, which saw its stock drop off a cliff when the report of the memo was released.

The claims are just some of the latest concerns over China's ability to exploit sensitive data and information in the United States. According to the outlet, the document states that Alibaba gives the Chinese government as well as the PLA access to customer data, such as IP addresses, Wi-Fi information, payment records, as well as other AI-related services.

The memo also states that those who work at Alibaba have knowledge about "zero-day" exploits with the PLA.

The memo comes as there have been increasing tensions with China regarding trade and national security concerns. Foreign nations such as China have often used tactics in order to gain IP information in the United States by having foreign nationals become employed at different US-based companies.

In the tech industry, there have been reports of increased "sex warfare," or the tactic where Chinese and sometimes Russian women will seduce executives and staff at large tech firms in order to gain access to industry secrets.

Recently, Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping came to an agreement to reduce tariffs on the part of the US while China committed to opening up rare earth mineral exports. However, relations with China have still been on edge.