The Chinese telecom giant Huawei is moving to develop technology related to pig farms, in light of the sanctions the company faces that restrict its business related to the smart phone industry.
The Chinese company was prevented from obtaining critical components after the Trump administration described them as a threat to US national security.
To cope with its sluggish mobile phone sales, Huawei is currently looking at other sources of revenue for the technology it is developing.
While developing AI technologies used in pig farms, Huawei also cooperates in coal mining.
Former US President Donald Trump had said that Huawei might share its customers' data with the Chinese government, allegations the company has consistently denied.
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As a result, the production of this company, which is the largest producer of communications equipment in the world, has become limited to devices that work with 4G networks only, because it did not obtain permission from the US government to import components that work with devices of 5G networks. G5".
Sales of Huawei smartphones decreased by 42 percent during the last quarter of 2020, due to the limited supply of microchips caused by the sanctions.
Huawei has also been excluded from developing 5G technology in several countries, including Britain, amid national security concerns.
Reports predicted that the company will reduce its smartphone manufacturing this year by up to 60 percent, although it said it could not confirm that percentage.
A company spokesperson told the BBC: "It's not that there are problems with the quality of Huawei's products or experiences with it. This is not a level playing field for Huawei, which is caught in the middle of geopolitical tensions."
Therefore, Huawei is looking for other sources of revenue, as it has moved to cloud computing services and the development of smart vehicles and wearable devices, and even has plans to produce a smart car.
The company is also considering experimenting with a few more traditional areas.
Pig Farms
China is the world's largest pig breeding country, and has half of the world's live pigs.
Technology contributes to the modernization of pig farms with artificial intelligence techniques that are used to monitor diseases and follow up on pigs.
Facial recognition technology can be used to identify pigs, while other technologies monitor their weight, diet and behavior.
Last month, Huawei faced criticism over the facial recognition technology it was already developing, over a system that could detect people whose features showed Uighur ancestry among photos of passers-by.
Other Chinese tech giants, including JD.com and Alibaba, are already working with Chinese pig farms to develop new technologies.
Huawei's spokesperson added, "The pig farming field is another example of how we are reviving some traditional industries by relying on information and communication technology to create greater value for industries in the era of 5G technology."
Coal Mining
Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei announced earlier this month the establishment of a mining innovation laboratory in northern China's Shanxi Province.
Ren seeks to develop technology used in coal mines that will lead to "reduced worker numbers, higher levels of safety and greater efficiency", and make miners work in more humane work environments.
The company is also working on expanding its scope of work to include consumer products such as televisions, computers and tablets.
"We can survive even without relying on phone sales," he said, adding that the United States was unlikely to remove Huawei from its blacklist that bars companies from doing business with the Chinese technology company.