China may have infiltrated Apple, Amazon, and the U.S. government with one microchip

Computer chips.
(Image credit: iStock)

One miniscule microchip, found on Chinese-built motherboards, may have infiltrated the world's biggest companies and the depths of the U.S. government. But the extent of its devastation — and its future potential — is still unknown, a massive investigation by Bloomberg Businessweek reveals.

Back when it was still developing Prime Video, Amazon aimed to and later did acquire Elemental Technologies, a startup whose video-streaming software had already landed it a CIA contract. Elemental's video-compressing servers were assembled by Californian company Supermicro, which in turn built its motherboards in China. And during the pre-acquisition process, those motherboards — essentially the brains of servers — were reportedly revealed to contain a rice-grain-sized chip that wasn't part of their original blueprint, "sending a shudder through the intelligence community," Businessweek says.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.