For those not in the know, Huawei is blacklisted by the US government for the crime of providing cheap and cheerful products which were better than anything the US could make, spying. 

However, it seems that the US is still happy to take Huawei's money. The company has been exclusively sponsors a research contest that, since its launch in 2022, has distributed millions of dollars and drawn numerous submissions from scientists globally, including those from leading US universities where affiliations with the firm are prohibited.

The Optica Foundation, a branch of the non-profit professional group Optica, manages the competition. Optica's members conduct research on optics that is fundamental to technologies like communication, medical diagnostics, and lasers.

The foundation "is not obligated to acknowledge Huawei as the benefactor or the programme's sponsor" for the contest, and "the details and existence of this Agreement, as well as the relationship between the involved Parties, are to be treated as Confidential Information," according to a non-disclosed document seen by Bloomberg.