SpyLedger dossier · Biometric / video

Yitu Technology

Yitu Technology is a Shanghai-based artificial-intelligence company founded August 27, 2012 by Leo Zhu (Zhu Long) and Lin Chenxi, specializing in facial recognition and computer vision. Its flagship Dragonfly Eye platform is marketed for identification of individuals and vehicles; the company also markets speech/NLP, AI medical imaging, and smart-city/chip products. The operating company is Shanghai Yitu Technology Co., Ltd. The BIS Entity List entry names "Yitu Technologies" at a Shanghai address, while the OFAC NS-CMIC listing names "YITU LIMITED," a related Cayman Islands holding entity; the exact legal names differ by source. Caution: a small number of 2024 secondary press accounts loosely described the December 2021 Treasury action as an "SDN List" designation; that is imprecise. OFAC's own records place Yitu on the Non-SDN NS-CMIC list (program CMIC-EO13959), an investment restriction, NOT the asset-blocking Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list.

Headquarters: China

Products

Dragonfly Eye (cloud facial-recognition / video surveillance platform used by public-security bureaus to identify individuals and vehicles)
Facial recognition and computer-vision software (machine vision, identity verification)
Speech recognition and natural-language / semantic comprehension software
AI medical imaging diagnosis platform (care.ai / healthcare AI)
questcore AI inference chip / smart-city computing systems

Government designation status

2 active designations from the surveyed authorities. Each is a public government record with a different legal effect — read the type label and scope on each.

US BISExport controlEntity List · 2019-10-09

A license is required to export US-origin items/technology to the entity, typically reviewed under a presumption of denial (e.g. BIS Entity List). It is not an asset freeze.

Added to the BIS Entity List as "Yitu Technologies" (Shanghai address: 23F, Shanghai Arch Tower I, 523 Loushanguan Rd, Changning District, Shanghai, China) effective October 9, 2019, in a notice adding 28 Chinese government and commercial entities. License required for all items subject to the EAR; license review policy is case-by-case for ECCNs 1A004.c, 1A004.d, 1A995, 1A999.a, 1D003, 2A983, 2D983, and 2E983, and for EAR99 items described in the Note to ECCN 1A995, with presumption of denial for all other items subject to the EAR. The End-User Review Committee determined the listed entities were implicated in China's campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR). This is an export-control restriction on U.S.-origin/EAR-subject items, NOT a financial/asset-blocking sanction. As of verification this listing remains in effect (not removed).

Federal Register Vol. 84, No. 196 (Oct. 9, 2019): Addition of Certain Entities to the Entity List (84 FR 54002; doc. 2019-22210)

US Treasury (OFAC)Investment restrictionNon-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List (NS-CMIC); program tag CMIC-EO13959 · 2021-12-16

US persons are barred from buying or selling the company’s publicly traded securities. It is not an asset freeze or a ban on ordinary commercial trade (e.g. Treasury NS-CMIC List).

Listed as "YITU LIMITED" (address: Suite #4-210, Governors Square, 23 Lime Tree Bay Avenue, PO Box 23211, Grand Cayman, KY1-1209, Cayman Islands) on the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List on December 16, 2021, pursuant to Executive Order 13959 as amended by Executive Order 14032. This is an investment/securities restriction only: it prohibits U.S. persons from purchasing or selling publicly traded securities (and derivatives or securities providing investment exposure) of the listed entity. Per the OFAC record, the trading-restriction effective date (CMIC) is February 14, 2022, with a purchase/sales divestment date of December 16, 2022. IMPORTANT: This is the Non-SDN NS-CMIC list, NOT the SDN list; it does not block assets or prohibit general dealings. As of verification this listing remains in effect (not removed).

OFAC Sanctions List Search — Details for YITU LIMITED (record id 33893; Non-SDN, program CMIC-EO13959)

Conservatively excluded after verification: (1) OFAC SDN List — Yitu is NOT on the asset-blocking SDN list; OFAC records place it only on the Non-SDN NS-CMIC list (program CMIC-EO13959). Some 2024 secondary press loosely called the December 2021 action an "SDN" listing; that wording is inaccurate per OFAC's own records and is not adopted here. (2) FCC Covered List — Yitu does NOT appear; the FCC Covered List covers Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, Dahua, named PRC carriers (China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Pacific/Pacifica Networks), and Kaspersky — not Yitu. (3) EU consolidated sanctions — no listing for Yitu was found. Only the BIS Entity List (export control) and Treasury NS-CMIC (investment restriction) designations are verifiable and are reported above. No customer or deployment-specific claims and no personal data are included.

This dossier restates public government-designation records; it is not an allegation of wrongdoing by AI Analytics, and it publishes no customer-deployment claims or targeting data. A designation describes a specific legal action by a named authority — read its scope; an export control, an equipment-authorization restriction, and an asset-blocking sanction are not the same thing. To dispute or correct an entry, contact us (see the methodology). Status current as of the 2026-06-23 build — confirm against the linked primary source. Back to all vendors.