Chinese-backed venture capital firms are closing U.S. offices, reducing their U.S. investments or changing the structure of their investments to avoid scrutiny from government regulators as U.S. startups shy away from Chinese investors amid rising tensions between the two countries, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Research firm Rhodium Group said Chinese investments in U.S. startups hit record levels in early 2018 but started to drop in May 2018. Foreign direct investment from China also declined from $46 billion in 2016 to $5 billion in 2018, reflecting a 90 percent drop.

The decline in Chinese investments came after Congress passed a law expanding the authority of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to assess foreign transactions and direct international investors to seek approval for technology deals. The report said a group of administration officials and senators started conducting meetings with U.S. tech executives and venture capitalists to inform them of the risks of having dealings with Chinese counterparts.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said he supported broadening economic relations with China in the past. “But a few years and many, many classified briefings later, my views have changed, as the government in China has,” he said in a statement. The FBI has carried out briefings to warn companies of Chinese-backed intellectual property theft, economic espionage and cybersecurity threats, the report noted.

Army Secretary Mark Esper told Federal News Network in an interview published Wednesday about the service’s current efforts and Army Futures Command.

“If you look at our budget you will see a dramatic shift in the budget we put forward just to make sure we were consistent with the National Defense Strategy,” Esper said. “Whether it’s how we man, organize, train or equip the force we are making big shifts. I like to say that the Army is in a renaissance right now.”

Esper, a 2019 Wash100 winner, discussed the service’s intellectual property policy, military housing and hiring of civilian personnel and offered updates on the new command when it comes to the acquisition of weapons systems in support of the Army’s six modernization priorities. He said Futures Command hasn’t yet reached full operational capability but is making progress driven by its cross functional teams.

“We finally have a command that is bringing together the entire modernization enterprise to provide our soldiers the equipment they need when they need it,” Esper noted. “We need to be good stewards of America’s hard-earned tax dollars, so we are doing that at cost and we are already seeing accomplishments by command leader Gen. John Murray and Futures Command on both fronts, and I’m very excited about the future and his ability to deliver capabilities on time, on cost with the performance parameters and requirements we need.”

Rep. Will Hurd, a 2019 Wash100 awardee, unveiled a bipartisan legislation to create minimum requirements on Internet of Things devices used by the government. The Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2019 will require government-purchased devices to meet security standards to maintain the privacy of government networks and personal data from hackers, the office of Will Hurd said Wednesday.

Additionally, the bill will task the Office of Management and Budget and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish the requirements on IoT tools.

“Internet of Things devices will improve and enhance nearly every aspect of our society, economy and everyday lives – and are growing rapidly. We must act now to ensure these devices are built with security in mind, not as an afterthought,” said Hurd.

Fred Kennedy, director of Space Development Agency, said that lawmakers are showing interest in supporting the newly-established agency, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.

The Pentagon stood up SDA to help utilize commercial technologies to accelerate development of space systems in March. Kennedy said a House Armed Services subcommittee included provisions to the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which would direct the agency to procure commercial space situational awareness services and design navigation satellite receivers to support NATO and Japan space techs. 

“They’ve assigned tasks. That’s a good sign,” he said during a speech at the MITRE campus. “That means they recognize the need for something like an SDA and they’re trying to figure out what to make it go do.” 

Kennedy added that previous meetings in Congress were “very fruitful” despite the lack of final budget for SDA. The Department of Defense requested a $149.8 million funding for the agency in fiscal year 2020. Initial project assigned to SDA will focus on planning a new constellation of low-cost satellites in low-Earth orbit for the military.