Trump-linked crypto venture partners with Hong Kong AI platform offering Chinese models

Washington/New Delhi: A cryptocurrency venture backed by U.S. President Donald Trump and his family has partnered with a Hong Kong artificial intelligence platform that offers access to dozens of Chinese-developed AI models, according to a Reuters investigation published Aug. 17.

World Liberty Financial has entered into a commercial partnership with WorldClaw, a Hong Kong-based AI platform that allows users to access about 90 AI models through a single service.

A Reuters review found that 43 of the models available on WorldClaw were developed by Chinese technology companies and research groups, including Alibaba, Baidu, DeepSeek, Z.ai and Moonshot. The platform also provides access to models from U.S. companies including OpenAI and Anthropic.

The partnership also connects WorldClaw to World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin, a digital token designed to maintain a value of $1. WorldClaw accepts USD1 as a payment option for its AI computing services and subscription plans.

World Liberty Financial generates revenue from activity involving USD1 and returns from assets backing the stablecoin, including U.S. Treasury securities. The Trump family holds an estimated 38% stake in the crypto venture.

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who are involved with World Liberty Financial, have also promoted WorldClaw on social media. The crypto venture’s growth director has served as an adviser to the Hong Kong-based company.

The partnership comes as the Trump administration continues to tighten scrutiny of Chinese technology companies and their links to the Chinese military.

Alibaba and Baidu have been designated by the U.S. Department of Defense as Chinese military-linked companies. Z.ai, formerly known as Zhipu AI, has also been placed on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Entity List over concerns involving technology transfers and military modernization.

U.S. officials have separately raised concerns about Chinese AI companies, including DeepSeek and Moonshot, over their alleged use of techniques to reproduce capabilities from U.S. AI systems.

However, the partnership itself has not been reported as a violation of U.S. law. The restrictions placed on some Chinese companies also do not amount to a blanket ban on commercial access to all of their AI models.

The arrangement has nevertheless raised questions about the relationship between the Trump family’s private business interests and the administration’s technology policy toward China.

White House representatives said there was no conflict of interest and that Trump continues to act in the country’s best interests.

World Liberty Financial and WorldClaw said the Hong Kong platform operates independently. They also described offering access to AI models from different countries as a common practice in the global technology industry.