WASHINGTON — Nearly 200 startup founders and technology companies have urged U.S. President Donald Trump's administration not to block access to Chinese open-weight artificial intelligence models, arguing that such restrictions would undermine American innovation and disproportionately hurt smaller developers that rely on low-cost AI tools.
The appeal was made in a letter sent on Wednesday by the newly formed Little Tech Association to Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios, according to the group and media reports. Its members include startup accelerator Y Combinator, encrypted email provider Proton and a range of Silicon Valley startups.
The letter comes as the administration considers possible restrictions on Chinese open-weight AI models following the release of Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 model and amid growing scrutiny of Chinese AI developers over alleged intellectual property concerns. Officials have not announced any final decision on whether to impose new limits.
In its letter, the association said U.S. leadership in AI depended both on maintaining world-class domestic open-weight models and allowing American developers to access open-weight models already available globally. It argued that banning downloads of Chinese models would not prevent their worldwide distribution but would instead raise costs for U.S. startups and reduce their ability to compete.
Harry Godfrey, executive director of the Little Tech Association, said policymakers should take a targeted approach that addressed legitimate national security concerns without unnecessarily increasing costs or restricting innovation for American companies.
Suhail Doshi, founder of AI infrastructure startup Particle and a member of the association, warned that cutting off access to Chinese open-weight models could force many smaller AI companies out of business because they lack the financial resources to rely exclusively on more expensive commercial models.
The White House did not directly address the group's request. White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement that the United States leads the world in AI innovation and that the Trump administration intends to accelerate that lead.
The debate highlights a widening divide within the U.S. AI industry. Large AI companies have urged stronger safeguards around advanced models, citing security risks and concerns over intellectual property, while many startups argue that access to open-weight models is essential for competition and innovation.
The administration has publicly raised concerns that some Chinese AI developers may have benefited from improperly using U.S. technology, allegations that Chinese officials and companies have rejected. As of Thursday, no formal restrictions on Chinese open-weight AI models had been announced.
