Hikvision: The Global Surveillance Giant Navigating Innovation and Controversy
Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd., or Hikvision for short, is the world’s largest maker of video surveillance equipment and has operations in more than 190 countries. This Chinese company, which is partly owned by the government, started out small in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, in 2001. It has since grown into a global powerhouse that uses cutting-edge AI and Internet of Things (AIoT) technologies to change the way security and surveillance work. But its quick rise has caused a lot of trouble, especially when it comes to its role in mass surveillance and human rights issues. This article talks about Hikvision’s history, new ideas, and the problems it has to deal with in a world that is very divided.
A Rapid Rise Based on New Ideas
Zhejiang HIK Information Technology Co., Ltd. owned 51% of Hikvision, and Gong Hongjia owned 49% at the time. The company has been listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange since 2010. In 2024, it made RMB 92.50 billion (about USD 12.87 billion), which shows how dominant it is in the market. It has a strong research and development (R&D) framework that employs more than 10,000 R&D engineers and puts 7–8% of its annual revenue into new ideas. Hikvision makes a lot of different things, like video cameras, access control systems, smart home solutions, and industrial automation technologies. The company has 11 R&D centers and seven manufacturing bases around the world.
Hikvision’s products are powered by cutting-edge technologies like the Guanlan Large-Scale AI Models, which make it easier to find things and cut down on false alarms. Its AcuSeek NVRs let users “Search by Text,” which means they can find video footage using natural language. Its ColorVu 3.0 cameras have AI-powered night vision and audio capabilities. WonderOS 4.0 and EaseEngine from the company make things easier for users by making complicated systems easy to understand and adaptable to many fields, including retail, logistics, education, and city management.
Hikvision has gone beyond traditional security and into machine perception technologies. They are looking into thermal imaging, multispectral imagery, radar sensing, and even X-ray and millimeter-wave detection. Its “See Clearer” technology gives you high-definition pictures and better night vision, making it the best in computer vision and multidimensional perception.
A Major Player in China’s Surveillance System
Hikvision’s close ties to the Chinese government have been both good and bad. Hikvision is a subsidiary of the state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC). It has won big contracts for China’s Skynet and Sharp Eyes projects, which want to cover the whole country with surveillance cameras. A big example is a $125 million deal in 2018 to put 45,000 cameras in Xi’an, many of which could recognize faces and find people.
However, these connections have come under fire, especially because Hikvision is said to have helped keep an eye on Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. Reports say that Hikvision cameras have been used to watch and profile ethnic minorities in internment camps, mosques, and public places. Features like “ethnic minority detection” in the software raise ethical concerns. In 2022, the company got a contract to make software that would keep “key people” from getting into Beijing and another for a “smart campus” system that would let students know when they were fasting during Ramadan.
Growth around the world and backlash
Hikvision’s products are sold in more than 190 countries, from police surveillance systems to baby monitors. Resellers and integrators love it because it can sell high-quality goods at low prices. However, its growth into other countries has been very difficult because of security and moral issues.
Starting in 2019, Hikvision was banned from federal government contracts in the United States because of concerns about spying and human rights violations. The U.S. put Hikvision on the Entity List in October 2019 because it was involved in building surveillance infrastructure in Xinjiang. In 2021, big stores like Best Buy, Home Depot, and Lowe’s stopped selling Hikvision’s Ezviz brand cameras. Amazon Web Services has also come under fire for providing cloud services to Hikvision. In 2023, a leaked Pentagon document said that Hikvision was helping Chinese spies by “white labeling” its products for U.S. government suppliers. The company denied this claim.
The European Union and other countries have done the same. India banned Hikvision from government contracts in 2020 and made it take its cameras out of military and other high-security areas. Canada stopped Hikvision from doing business in 2025 because of worries about national security. The company is now fighting this decision.
Hikvision has responded by stressing its dedication to openness and following the rules. It hired Pierre-Richard Prosper, a former U.S. ambassador, to help it follow human rights rules, and it puts out a Transparency Report every year that lists all the data requests it makes to the government. The company says its products don’t have backdoors and that it has fixed security holes, like the ones that were found in a 2023 BBC Panorama investigation.
Problems with ethics and cybersecurity
Many people are outraged by Hikvision’s use of AI to profile people by race. IPVM’s 2023 report said that Hikvision kept making cameras that could detect Uyghurs, even though the company said it would stop doing so. Some of these cameras used NVIDIA chips. These new facts have led to calls for tougher sanctions. The U.S. is thinking about putting Hikvision on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List, which could severely limit its ability to do business around the world.
Another worry is cybersecurity. A flaw in Hikvision cameras from 2017 was fixed within a week, but critics say the company’s products are still dangerous, especially on networks that aren’t secure. Hikvision has responded with a “Secure-by-Design” approach, spending a lot of money on cybersecurity and getting certifications like CNPP for its thermal cameras.
A Promise to Follow the Rules and Be Sustainable?
Hikvision’s THRIVE philosophy is based on “Tech for Good” and includes harmony, reliability, integrity, value chain, and environmental sustainability. In 2024, it joined the United Nations Global Compact, which showed that it was serious about doing business in an honest way. The company also talks about its “people-oriented” culture. It has more than 25,000 employees around the world and supports employee well-being and community programs like Mission 500 and the Missing Children’s Network in North America.
But these efforts are often forgotten because of its part in systems that allow authoritarian surveillance. Some people say that Hikvision’s efforts to comply are only skin-deep and meant to protect its reputation rather than fix the problems that come with its government contracts.
The Way Forward
Hikvision’s future depends on its ability to find a balance between being innovative and being responsible. It is a leader in the AIoT ecosystem because of its technological progress, which ranges from AI-powered cameras to smart city solutions. But its ties to state-sponsored surveillance and the backlash that has come from it around the world could hurt its share of the international market. Hikvision may need to become more open and innovative in order to keep its global dominance as Western governments tighten restrictions and people become more aware of the ethics of surveillance.
Hikvision is still a paradox: it’s a technological leader that makes both security and surveillance possible, and people admire its creativity but criticize its complicity. As the world tries to figure out what AI-driven surveillance means, Hikvision’s story is a warning about the intersection of technology, ethics, and geopolitics.