Chinese Firms Target Laid-Off US Federal Workers for Recruitment

A network of companies linked to a secretive Chinese tech firm has been attempting to recruit recently laid-off U.S. government workers, according to research by Max Lesser from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. These firms are described as part of a broader scheme of fake consulting and headhunting operations targeting ex-government employees and AI researchers. The companies share overlapping digital footprints and are hosted on the same server as Smiao Intelligence, an internet services company with an inactive website. Efforts by Reuters to investigate the companies were met with numerous obstacles, including dead-end communications and fake addresses. Lesser emphasized that this recruitment strategy exploits the financial vulnerabilities of individuals affected by recent layoffs. The connections between these companies and the Chinese government remain unclear, as does whether any former federal workers were successfully recruited.