Billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya is under fire for saying that he - and most Americans - "don't care" about abuses against the Uyghur minority in China.

Mr Palihapitiya, a part-owner of San Francisco's basketball team, made the comments during a podcast discussion of whether President Joe Biden's action on the issue had helped him politically.

Mr Palihapitiya later admitted that his comments "lacked empathy".

"When people apologise, they deserve a second chance.

I don't view this as an apology when Chamath can not even acknowledge how his comment was hurtful to the Uyghur community," human rights lawyer Rayhan Asat wrote on Twitter.

When people apologize, they deserve a second chance.

I don't view this as an apology when @chamath can not even acknowledge how his comment was hurtful to the #Uyghur community.

Mr Palihapitiya, an early executive at Facebook and now a prominent venture capitalist, is co-host of the "All-in" podcast on which he made the remarks.

"When genocides happen, it is people like this that let it happen," he wrote.

When genocides happen, it is people.

like this that let it happen?