World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, has been found to be linked to a Hong Kong AI platform that provides models from Chinese AI companies the U.S. government classifies as security risks, fuelling controversy. As the Trump family’s crypto business intersects with Chinese AI technology and national security issues, allegations of conflicts of interest are also growing.

On Aug. 17 local time, blockchain outlet Cryptopolitan reported that Hong Kong-based AI platform Worldklaw operates a routing service that brokers about 90 AI models. Of these, 43 are models from Chinese developers such as Alibaba, Baidu, Z.ai, DeepSeek and Moonshot. It also offers models from U.S. companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

The crux of the controversy is the payment method. Worldklaw supports USD1, a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, as a payment option for its services. USD1 holds reserves backed by assets including U.S. Treasuries, and the Trump family has the right to receive part of the interest income generated from the reserve assets. This has prompted criticism that wider use of USD1 could be tied to World Liberty Financial’s business growth.

World Liberty Financial recently received preliminary approval for a nationwide bank licence centred on USD1. It was reported to have delivered more than $1.4 billion to the Trump family through token sales, and the Trump family’s total crypto-related earnings are estimated at about $2.3 billion.

One issue highlighted is that Chinese AI models offered through Worldklaw include those subject to U.S. sanctions or security concerns. The U.S. Department of Defense has designated Alibaba and Baidu as Chinese military-linked companies. Z.ai is on the U.S. Commerce Department’s restricted trade list, and the U.S. government views the company as potentially able to strengthen China’s military capabilities through advanced AI technology.

DeepSeek and Moonshot have also been cited in the United States as security concerns. Officials in the Trump administration have previously raised suspicions that the two companies built AI systems using intellectual property from U.S. competitors. Moonshot denied the allegation.

Personal ties have also been identified. Ryan Fang (라이언 팡), World Liberty Financial’s head of growth, previously served as an adviser to Worldklaw. Worldklaw explained that the role was limited to advising on expanding adoption of USD1 and improving access to AI services. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump were also reported to have promoted Worldklaw via social media in the past.

Security concerns have also been raised. Daniel Lemer (대니얼 렘러), a senior researcher at the Center for a New American Security, pointed to the possibility that using Chinese AI models via Worldklaw could expose user information to monitoring by the Chinese government, and that malicious code could pose a risk of hijacking AI agents. Worldklaw also advises that information entered by users may be passed to the companies providing the models hosted on the platform.

Worldklaw says it has secured more than 10,000 users and processes more than 50 million requests per day. The relatively lower costs of Chinese AI models are cited as a factor behind user growth. Still, the act of individuals and companies in the United States using Chinese AI models is not currently uniformly illegal.

The parties denied allegations of conflicts of interest. World Liberty Financial said Worldklaw is an independent company, and Worldklaw said offering various AI models does not mean it supports the developers. The White House also said there is no conflict of interest in the relationship between the two companies and stressed that President Trump acts in the interests of the American people.

Outside critics have also voiced a negative view. Sam Bresnick (샘 브레스닉), a researcher at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, said that as the U.S. government responds to China’s rise in AI and related security threats, a structure that generates profits by using Chinese AI tools through Worldklaw could appear contradictory.

The controversy is drawing attention because it highlights, at the same time, reliance on Chinese AI technology, national security and conflict-of-interest issues as the Trump family’s crypto business expands into stablecoins, banking and AI platform payments.