Prominent US university Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) became the latest educational facility to cut ties with Chinese telecoms vendors, citing ongoing federal investigations into alleged sanctions violations.

In a letter explaining the decision, Maria Zuber, VP of Research said MIT is “not accepting new engagements or renewing existing ones with Huawei and ZTE or their respective subsidiaries” due to the government probes.

She added it will “revisit collaborations with these entities as circumstances dictate”.

In a statement, Huawei denied wrongdoing and said it was “disappointed” by the university’s decision. However, it added “we understand the pressure they’re under at the moment”.

The move makes MIT the latest elite university to sever its relationship with Huawei.

Oxford University in the UK stopped accepting donations and sponsorship from Huawei in January. US-based Stanford University, which was researching AI with the company, followed suit in February.

Going forward, Zuber said MIT will subject all potential collaborations with entities from China, Russia and Saudi Arabia to heightened scrutiny, with special attention paid to “risks related to intellectual property, export controls, data security and access, economic competitiveness, national security, and political, civil and human rights”.