The Silicon Valley companies has provided Beijing with the software, known as multi-emitter scenario generation, that can be used to model and simulate forms of electronic warfare.


The State Department fined Keysight Technologies Inc., sold software and equipment to Communist China, Russia and 15 other countries beginning in 2015, amounting to 24 instances of unauthorized export, the official said.

The State Department said some of the violations harmed U.S. national security.

Keysight agreed to pay a fine of $6.6 million, with the department suspending $2.5 million if the company spends the funds on compliance measures. The company also agreed to hire an officer to audit its compliance program.

The settlement demonstrates the Department’s role in strengthening U.S. industry by protecting technical data from unauthorized exports, the State Department said. It also “highlights the importance of obtaining appropriate authorization from the Department for exporting software as well as determining proper export jurisdiction.”

Keysight is committed to conducting business ethically and in compliance with applicable laws and regulatory requirements. We take this matter seriously and are looking forward to working with the special compliance officer, Mr. Jeffrey Li, Keysight senior vice president and general counsel stated.

A daughter-company of Hewlett Packard’s electronic-measurement department, Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Keysight is known as a maker of oscilloscopes, which analyze electronic-signal waveforms.

In 2017, the State Department alerted Keysight to potential unauthorized export of technical data. The activity continued even while the government conducted its initial review, with Keysight exporting its software to Canada, Communist China, Japan, Israel and Russia without authorization, later saying it believed export controls did not govern the specific technology.