A Partnership That Raises Questions World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture backed by President Donald Trump, is collaborating with WorldClaw, a Hong Kong-based AI platform that offers ac
World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture backed by President Donald Trump, is collaborating with WorldClaw, a Hong Kong-based AI platform that offers access to models developed by Chinese technology companies the U.S. administration has flagged for national security and intellectual property concerns, according to a Reuters investigation published Monday.
Of the 90 models listed on WorldClaw, 43 were developed by Chinese companies including Alibaba, Baidu and Z(.)ai, according to a Reuters review. The platform also offers models from U.S. firms including OpenAI and Anthropic.
Several Chinese companies whose models are available through WorldClaw have faced action from the Trump administration. Alibaba and Baidu have been designated by the U.S. Department of Defense as Chinese military-aligned companies. Z(.)ai has been placed on the Commerce Department's entity list, restricting its access to certain U.S. technologies. WorldClaw also offers models from DeepSeek and Moonshot, Chinese firms that U.S. officials have accused of taking intellectual property from American AI companies.
The Trump family owns 38% of World Liberty and makes money through the sale or use of its crypto tokens, the $WLFI governance token and USD1 stablecoin. WorldClaw accepts USD1 as payment for services, among other forms of cryptocurrency. The Trump family earns a share of the interest income generated by every USD1 transaction the platform processes.
Seven experts on Chinese technology, trade and government ethics said the business collaboration, and the potential profits for President Trump through World Liberty, runs counter to his administration's stance towards Chinese tech companies. Daniel Remler, who serves as a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and previously advised the State Department on policy, warned that Chinese AI models made available through WorldClaw could expose users to monitoring by the Chinese government, censored outputs, and the injection of malicious code capable of hijacking AI agents.
David Wachsman, a spokesman for World Liberty, told Reuters that WorldClaw is an independent company and that major U.S. firms also make Chinese AI models accessible to their users, arguing this is "a common and widely accepted approach." White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said there are "no conflicts of interest" in the relationship between World Liberty and WorldClaw. There is no indication that World Liberty or WorldClaw is violating U.S. law. Chinese AI models remain widely available internationally and are increasingly used because they are often cheaper than comparable Western products.
Reuters could not establish the details of World Liberty's financial arrangements with WorldClaw or how much money the Trump family has made from crypto payments on the platform.
Sources:Reuters via Rappler: Trump crypto firm backs venture offering AI from restricted Chinese companiesCrypto Briefing: Trump-backed World Liberty partners with AI platform offering Chinese modelsTech Times: World Liberty Financial Earns From WorldClaw's Pentagon-Designated Chinese AI
