Huawei Technologies, based in China, is the world's largest maker of telecommunications equipment and second-largest maker of cellphones. It builds fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks for sharing information and controlling Internet-connected products such as self- driving vehicles and robot-operated factories. Huawei cellphones are popular in Asia and Europe, but few Americans recognize the brand, largely because of the U.S. political environment. The federal government has cautioned that Huawei technology can invade privacy and has charged the company with stealing intellectual property from several U.S. companies. The United States alleges that Huawei's products would enable it to fulfill requests from the Chinese government for information about users. This concern is based on a Chinese law requiring businesses and individuals to assist in intelligence gathering if requested to do so. If Huawei were to comply with such a request, China could obtain information about Internet use from Huawei's monitoring of networks using its equipment. This issue is not limited to the United States. In Africa, the Zambian telecommunications network was once found to be blocking certain websites, and its network allegedly included monitoring and blocking equipment from Huawei. Extending such capabilities to 5G would create potential to interfere with the operations of vehicles, power grids, and anything else connected to a network. The U.S. government and businesses have also accused Huawei of stealing intellectual property such as patents. A criminal filing charged Huawei employees in China with pressuring U.S. colleagues to share information about a competitor's robot used for testing mobile phones. A different Huawei competitor has filed lawsuits for theft of intellectual property. The United States, besides enforcing laws related to cybersecurity and intellectual property theft, has urged businesses and governments to avoid signing contracts with Huawei. In many countries, the customers for computer networks are those countries' governments. So far, the official response from other countries has been cautious. Many still work with Huawei on 5G networks, but some are limiting purchases to the least sensitive components. The U.S. Commerce Department recently banned the sale of U.S.-made products to Huawei unless makers can obtain a license showing they are exempt. Affected suppliers include Qualcomm and Intel (microchips) and Google (the Android operating system for cell phones). Google then announced it would not provide Android on future Huawei cell phone models. Huawei's response to these threats has been firm. It denied charges of using its technology to spy and said it would sign sales agreements that ban spying. Although the ban on U.S. components poses a serious challenge, because half of Huawei's microchips come from U.S. suppliers, the company anticipated the ban and built up an inventory of parts to use while it prepares a way forward. Some.