Trump-Backed World Liberty Partners with AI Venture Offering Chinese Models
Synopsis
Trump-backed World Liberty Financial is under scrutiny after its partner, WorldClaw was found to offer dozens of AI models from Chinese companies previously flagged by U.S. authorities that raised questions over policy alignment and national security.
A business collaboration between World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency venture backed by U.S. President Donald Trump and his family, and Hong Kong based AI platform WorldClaw has drawn scrutiny after it emerged that the platform provides access to artificial intelligence models developed by several Chinese companies.
These are the same companies that the U.S. administration has previously identified as national security concerns.
A review done by Reuters found that 43 of the 90 AI models available through WorldClaw were developed by some of the prominent Chinese firms, including Alibaba, Baidu, Z.ai, DeepSeek and Moonshot.
While the collaboration is legal and WorldClaw also offers models from U.S. companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic, industry experts argue the partnership appears inconsistent with the Trump administration's efforts to curb the influence of Chinese AI technologies.
World Liberty also benefits financially as WorldClaw accepts its USD1 stablecoin for payments, generating revenue through interest earned on the assets backing the token.
Experts Question Alignment with U.S. AI Policy
Several technology, trade and ethics experts told Reuters the arrangement contrasts with the administration's public stance on Chinese technology. Some of the Chinese AI developers available on WorldClaw's platform are subject to U.S. government restrictions.
The U.S. Department of Defense has designated Alibaba and Baidu as Chinese military-aligned companies. When it comes to Z.ai, it appears on the Commerce Department's Entity List, restricting U.S. technology exports.
DeepSeek and Moonshot have also faced accusations from U.S. officials over intellectual property concerns, although the companies and the Chinese government have denied the allegations.
Companies Defend the Collaboration
The White House said the relationship presents no conflict of interest, maintaining that President Trump acts in the public interest. World Liberty also stressed that WorldClaw operates independently while its spokesperson noted that many global AI platforms provide access to both American and Chinese AI models.
According to WorldClaw, its AI aggregation platform serves more than 10,000 users and processes over 50 million AI requests daily. The platform is also developing AI agents capable of handling personal tasks such as summarising emails and placing online orders.
The collaboration comes as the United States and China continue balancing strategic competition in artificial intelligence with broader efforts to ease tensions ahead of a planned summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Source: Reuters
At Inspirepreneurs Magazine, covering entrepreneurship, business failures, and the human stories behind the world's most ambitious founders. She writes at the intersection of strategy and storytelling.
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