Google has warned that the US risks compromising national security if it moves ahead with a sweeping ban on Huawei, the Financial Times reported (paywall) on Thursday. Meanwhile, in a fresh blow to Huawei, Facebook said that it would no longer allow the company to pre-install Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram on its phones, Reuters reported. These developments come less than three weeks after Google pulled Huawei’s Android licence on May 20, just days after the US government added the Chinese firm to its so-called Entity List (for national security reasons, ironically) which prevented it from buying components from US companies without prior government approval. Google’s decision was a huge blow to Huawei as it meant the company would lose access to Google's proprietary apps and services such as the Play Store, Gmail and YouTube - though it could continue to use AOSP, the open-source version of Android. Google fears Huawei-modified version of Android While the US sanctions are expected to hurt Huawei in the short-term, in the long-term, it could undermine American dominance in the sector by forcing Huawei and other Chinese firms to become more self-reliant, industry experts told Reuters. Google is worried that it would not be allowed to update its Android operating system on Huawei smartphones, thereby prompting the Chinese company to develop its own version of the mobile OS, which could pose a bigger threat to Android in the coming years, the FT report said, citing unnamed sources. Google argued that a version of Android developed by…
