World Liberty Financial, the crypto industry company co-founded by Alex and Zach Witkoff — sons of billionaire Trump advisor Steve Witkoff — along with Trump family members, is reportedly backing a Hong Kong artificial intelligence (AI) venture tied to Chinese companies restricted by the United States government.
According to a Reuters report, the firm has entered into a partnership with WorldClaw — a relatively new Hong Kong-based company that gives subscribers access to a range of AI models developed by companies worldwide. However, a Reuters investigation found that around half of the AI models offered by WorldClaw are owned by, or originate from, mainland Chinese companies that the U.S. government has restricted from doing business in the United States over national security concerns.
These companies, according to the Reuters report, include Alibaba, Baidu, and Z.ai, alongside several others.
While the partnership between the children of the U.S. president and those of one of his closest advisors with Chinese AI companies is concerning enough, the Daily Caller previously reported that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted World Liberty Financial a conditional de novo national trust banking charter. The charter allows World Liberty Financial to establish a domestic U.S. national trust bank. (RELATED: 'Wildly Unethical': Trump's Cronies Want To Enrich Wall Street By Selling Early Access To His Truth Social)
Importantly, the OCC is a regulatory agency operating under the auspices of the U.S. Treasury Department.
Still, the de novo charter process will require World Liberty Financial to undergo extensive layers of regulatory scrutiny — at least in practice. However, the fact that the children of a sitting president and those of a powerful White House advisor have been granted a banking charter that lacks any sort of recent precedent.
The additional prospect of a relationship between World Liberty Financial and Chinese companies deemed by the U.S. federal government to have ties to the Chinese military is even more concerning.
The Treasury Department and the OCC did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Daily Caller.
Disclosure: Will Upton served as a Public Affairs Specialist for the United States Department of the Treasury from 2020 to 2021.
Source link
