By Ben Otto Chinese artificial intelligence giant SenseTime Group Inc. will postpone its initial public offering in Hong Kong after being added to a U.S. sanctions list, the company said Monday.
Hong Kong- and Shanghai-based SenseTime noted that the U.S. Department of Treasury had added the company to the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List on Friday, and said the postponement of its IPO would give investors time to assess the move's potential impact. The U.S. list flags companies that the U.S. says support China's military, with officials citing the role of SenseTimes's facial-recognition technology in assisting China's suppression of mainly Muslim ethnic Uyghurs. The blacklisting bars Americans from investing in the company.SenseTime said it remains committed to completing the offering and the listing in Hong Kong"soon.