The companies behind China’s high-tech surveillance state

An employee walks past a wall display inside Iflytek Co.'s regional headquarters in Guangzhou, China, on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. Iflytek, which specializes in voice recognition, is collaborating with Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings Ltd. on a network of health centers that will rely partly on artificial intelligence for diagnosis and treatment. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

In China, Big Brother is big business. As the ruling Communist Party steps up efforts to keep tabs on the world’s largest population, it’s turning to the nation’s most innovative companies for help. 

Booming government demand for smart surveillance cameras, voice-recognition technology, and big-data analytics has minted several billionaires and spawned some of the world’s fastest-growing startups. It has also fuelled concern that China Inc is helping the government erode civil liberties.