NEW YORK (AP) — The expansion of government surveillance efforts in China — and the role that U.S. tech firms played in it — was the foundation of investigative stories from The Associated Press that won a Pulitzer Prize Monday for international reporting.
The Pulitzer board recognized AP journalists Dake Kang, Garance Burke, Byron Tau and Aniruddha Ghosal, along with contributor and independent journalist Yael Grauer, for what it called “an astonishing global investigation into state-of-the-art tools of mass surveillance” that also included a story about the expansion of license plate surveillance of drivers in United States by the U.S. Border Patrol.
AP Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Julie Pace said “this complex and difficult reporting, done by journalists across several continents, embodies the true spirit of the AP: leveraging our global footprint and deep expertise to tell important, impactful stories. It comes at a critical time when the immense and growing power of U.S. tech companies — and their increasingly complex relationship with governments — is in the spotlight and of immense public interest.”
The AP's investigation spanned three years, thousands of pages of documents and numerous interviews. It found that the foundations of the system used by the Chinese government to monitor and police its citizens over recent decades was laid down with the help of American companies. Some of the companies went so far as to use their tech's surveillance capabilities as a selling point.
“This was sweeping and deeply impactful reporting, the kind of work that highlights the unique strengths of AP’s global, multiformat newsroom,” Pace said in an email to staffers. She is among the Pulitzer Board’s new members.
Other stories included a look at how across presidential administrations, the U.S. government allowed tech companies and China to skirt regulations intended to bar that country from access to certain materials like advanced computer chips.
A piece looking at surveillance in the United States found that the Border Patrol was secretively using an intelligence program that used license plate information to track drivers' travel patterns, and not just for border crossings. Drivers whose patterns were deemed suspicious by an algorithm could then find themselves stopped and even arrested.
The AP highlighted the difficulty of undertaking the project, and said in its statement that journalists dealt with harassment and off-the-record pushes to keep the project from publishing.
The visually compelling project included multiple photographic and video elements, with notable contributions from AP photographer David Goldman and visual journalists Marshall Ritzel and Serginho Roosblad.
Other contributors included Michael Biesecker and Sam Mednick on a story that focused on how U.S. tech giants quietly empowered Israel to track and kill many more alleged militants more quickly in Gaza and Lebanon through a sharp spike in artificial intelligence and computing services. And it fueled fears that these tools contributed to the deaths of innocent people.
FILE - Signage for The Pulitzer Prizes appear at Columbia University, May 28, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist party has wrested control of the opposition stronghold of West Bengal in a key state election.
The Election Commission of India released partial results Monday showing the Bharatiya Janata Party won at least 124 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly and was leading in 83 others.
Modi’s party has never governed West Bengal and had tried for years to dislodge the All India Trinamool Congress government led by state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. She is one of Modi’s most prominent critics and has held power in the politically influential state since 2011.
Opposition parties have sharply criticized the polls in West Bengal after the Election Commission removed millions of voters from electoral rolls.
Governments were ousted in two other states and Modi's party retained power in another that held elections in April.
India has more than 1.4 billion people in 28 states and eight federal territories, and elections are staggered with several states and territories voting each year.
The outcome in West Bengal was expected to boost Modi’s standing and strengthen his position midway through his third term in office. The 2024 national election forced his ruling party to rely on regional allies to form a government. He is expected to run for a record fourth term in 2029.
Addressing supporters at BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Modi said the results pointed to the party’s widening appeal in a state where it had historically struggled.
“A new chapter has been added to Bengal’s destiny," Modi told a cheering crowd.
India’s opposition has struggled to mount a unified and sustained challenge to the BJP’s dominance nationwide.
Banerjee had emerged as one of Modi's most prominent national rivals, particularly after positioning herself as a key leader to unite regional parties against the BJP. Her defeat was likely to weaken her leverage within an opposition bloc already divided by regional power struggles.
In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, popular movie star Joseph Vijay, who launched the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party only two years ago, ousted the ruling DMK party. Tamil Nadu, one of India’s most developed states, has a history of electing movie stars to the top office.
In Kerala, another southern state, the Indian National Congress-led opposition defeated the ruling communist government, ending leftist rule in one of its last remaining strongholds.
Modi’s party also returned to power in the northeastern state of Assam for a third consecutive term.
Diplu Ranjan Sarmah, center, New Guwahati candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party shows victory sign after winning in recent held state election in Guwahati, India, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Confetti is sprayed as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center, waves to supporters upon his arrival at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters to celebrate victory in the recently held state assembly elections in New Delhi, India, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) supporters celebrate their party wining in the recently held state elections, in Chennai, southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo)
A Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporter sits beside an election banner featuring Mamata Banerjee as early leads and results indicate the party is trailing in the recently held state election, in Kolkata, India, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ananya Das)
Confetti is sprayed as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center, waves to supporters upon his arrival at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters to celebrate victory in the recently held state assembly elections in New Delhi, India, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Bharatiya Janata Party workers shout slogans and celebrate the party's early results and lead in the recently held state election, in Guwahati, India, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Bharatiya Janata Party members shout slogans and react to earlier results in a recently held state election, in Kolkata, India, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
Bharatiya Janata Party members shout slogans and react to earlier results in a recently held state election, in Kolkata, India, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
A worker of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party displays the photographs of party leader and actor-turned-politician, Vijay Chandrasekhar as he celebrates the early leads and results in the recently held state election, in Chennai, southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo)
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) workers hold photographs of their leader, actor-turned-politician Vijay Chandrasekhar, as they celebrate early leads and results in the recently held state election, in Chennai, southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo)
