The House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Select Committee on China have launched a joint investigation into American companies using AI models built by Chinese firms. DoorDash, the food delivery giant, is squarely in the crosshairs, but it’s not alone. Coinbase, Airbnb, and Siemens are also caught up in the probe.

What the investigation actually wants

Lawmakers have sent detailed information requests to the affected companies. They want to know the origins of training data, the volume of data transferred to Chinese firms, and what kind of internal risk assessments these companies conducted before adopting the models.

DoorDash has publicly acknowledged its use of the Kimi model from Moonshot AI, a Chinese developer. The company cited superior quality at a lower price compared to American alternatives.

Companies aren’t just dabbling with Chinese AI. They’re migrating core operations onto models from Moonshot AI, DeepSeek, and Alibaba’s Qwen, attracted by open-weight licensing and dramatically lower costs.

Why Coinbase’s involvement matters for crypto

Coinbase being named alongside DoorDash and Airbnb in this probe should get crypto investors’ attention. The exchange is reportedly among companies that have pivoted toward Chinese AI models for operational efficiency.

The Entity List threat

The Trump administration is reportedly considering adding certain Chinese AI labs to the Entity List, which would impose stricter oversight on firms employing these AI models. If Moonshot AI or other Chinese AI developers land on that list, every US company currently using their models would need to find alternatives.