According to a report by the 'Politician' news website on July 22, nearly 200 companies in Silicon Valley, including Proton and Y Combinator, are urging the Trump administration not to cut off America's access to Chinese AI models. Otherwise, the development of next-generation American startups could be stifled.
On Wednesday, the newly established "Little Tech Association" sent a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and other government officials, expressing the above-mentioned calls. This marks the first time that a broader and more influential group of startups in Silicon Valley has united to speak out on one of the most important issues related to artificial intelligence under the Trump administration. The controversy centers around whether Washington should restrict the United States from accessing the increasingly powerful open-source artificial intelligence models developed by Chinese companies.
This letter was also copied to Michael Kratsios, the director of the White House Office of Technology Policy. The letter states: “For the United States to maintain its leading position, two things are needed: having a world-leading open source model in the U.S., and continuing to allow American developers to use models that have already been made open to the world.” They believe that instead of implementing a blanket ban, the government should adopt targeted security measures.
They warned that banning Americans from downloading Chinese models will not prevent these models from spreading globally, but instead will weaken the competitiveness of American startups.
Artificial intelligence infrastructure startup Particle's founder and member of the association, Suhail Doshi, said in an interview: "Hundreds of companies will be completely ruined in an instant. This is certainly good for Anthropic, as we all have to pay money to use Anthropic's services."
Previously, there were reports that the Trump administration was considering banning Chinese artificial intelligence models from entering the US market. Shortly after this news was released, Moon's Dark Side launched a powerful Kimi K3 model. This has made the related controversy even more urgent.
White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in an interview with “West Wing Playbook”: “The United States is a world leader in artificial intelligence innovation, and President Trump will ensure that this leading position continues. The Trump administration is further intensifying innovation efforts to expand America’s leading edge over other countries around the world.”
These reports have caused panic among startups in Silicon Valley. Many entrepreneurs rely on lower-priced Chinese models to develop their products, and they do not have sufficient resources to purchase large quantities of models from American AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI. They fear that banning these models will give a greater advantage to a few AI giants.
According to two anonymous sources, this issue also sparked discussions among senior White House officials and cabinet members on Monday evening. The proposal to impose a comprehensive ban on Chinese models was not seriously considered.
However, U.S. government officials continue to slander Chinese artificial intelligence development companies.
For example, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated in an episode of Fox Business Channel on Tuesday that the government would investigate whether Chinese artificial intelligence companies develop their models by using improper “distillation” of American models. She also mentioned that the United States could impose sanctions on companies involved in intellectual property theft.
According to sources familiar with the matter, as of Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce has not yet developed a plan to include Chinese artificial intelligence companies in the ‘Entity List’ for export control and licensing restrictions.
This organization's opposition to banning open weight models also reflects the growing divisions within the artificial intelligence industry. On one hand, large companies like Anthropic continue to advocate for stricter restrictions on Chinese AI developers on the grounds of national security. On the other hand, startups believe that such bans are ineffective and put them at a disadvantage in the competition.
In fact, Harry Godfrey, the executive director of the 'Little Tech Society', suggested in an interview that policymakers should 'use scalpels, not hammers'.
He said, “The key is to find a way to intervene with the least impact, while addressing reasonable safety concerns, without increasing costs, restricting access, or hindering America’s innovation capabilities.”
The spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly emphasized that the claims made by the US side are baseless and constitute a smear of China's achievements in the development of artificial intelligence industry. The Chinese side firmly opposes this. We urge the US side to respect the facts, abandon prejudice, stop any technological restrictions against China, and do more things that are beneficial to scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.
