Food delivery giant latest targeted as rising adoption of China-built AI models pushes Washington to find strategies to combat trend
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenVincent Chowin WashingtonPublished: 6:53am, 1 Aug 2026Updated: 6:56am, 1 Aug 2026Prominent US lawmakers have requested information from food delivery giant DoorDash on its use of Chinese artificial intelligence models after its co-founder disclosed that they had experimented with a model from Chinese start-up Moonshot AI, developer of the Kimi models.The move underscores growing tensions between US lawmakers and industry, as Chinese AI models have become increasingly popular among US companies looking to save costs of AI adoption.
The letter also requests that DoorDash staff “with responsibility for DoorDash’s AI infrastructure, software security, model evaluation, procurement, and legal or compliance review” appear for an in-person briefing with the lawmakers by August 21.
02:37Will China’s new AI model Kimi K3 create another DeepSeek moment?“[The] Committees recognise that US companies, from large technology firms to start-ups, may evaluate and deploy PRC-developed open-weight models because they can provide competitive capabilities, lower costs, greater customisation, and alternatives to reliance on a small number of proprietary model providers,” the letter said.
“Those practical considerations do not eliminate the need for risk-based safeguards or diminish the national security concerns associated with growing dependence on models developed by entities subject to PRC jurisdiction.”
