House Committees Investigate DoorDash's Use of Chinese AI

House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Andrew R. Garbarino (R-NY) sent a letter to DoorDash co-Founder and CEO Tony Xu as part of a joint investigation into the national security, cybersecurity, and economic security implications of U.S. companies integrating Chinese open-weight AI models into consumer platforms. The committees are examining DoorDash's use of such models and have also sent letters to Anysphere, seeking to establish a factual record to inform federal policy on reducing reliance on PRC-developed models.

House Committees Investigate DoorDash’s Use of Chinese AI: A Recipe for Risk House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar R-MI and House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Andrew R. Garbarino R-NY sent a letter https://urldefense.com/v3/ https://pq8zlsfbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001I197DHKXmyORnppsgmB30nee pbvTbUkNyRB5cRUqhPVAQZK2P8tnWXXd2ReN3KqUmcn7cdLbd85leGK2wsikE1sncsKzVUkeoZLeVDshYmwUFHPRITpUVusGE9t4JK-TVj4CrqkhgKyY0G7JKlWlobLXjQPzCtlpWrjBFnlylbs4kZKx8ET9qUTBdqebjX1myAWzrGGocV5YqCQorUD5wOTa6ihtdGoGhn4dj8a564=&c=79z4dfMqqOd9-pDZdCUIVhuOmQtKcDj14lMOYa1P-wxRdTFRjk5bZA==&ch=39V0kVferYhRMUUfm-1NA-Gu9GqOqFdJiOfea i8xPQ1FCRr0HX2iw== ; BSgrhSFG CdXKO1LPjKDDuahmeETSY2j8JjvR9Fyo Ti9sfcdhXAnqixG-8TcgnfSu5IDTzg0lWJLmA6tdxRnl6ovwIdBW1kmxjBkxopVqOayf7k5J80$ to DoorDash co-Founder and CEO Tony Xu amidst a joint investigation into the national security, cybersecurity, and economic security implications of American companies integrating artificial intelligence AI models into their business. In the letter to DoorDash, the Chairmen write: “ T he Committees recognize that U.S. companies, from large technology firms to startups, may evaluate and deploy PRC-developed open-weight models because they can provide competitive capabilities, lower costs, greater customization, and alternatives to reliance on a small number of proprietary model providers. 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. An effective federal approach should therefore reduce U.S. companies’ reliance on PRC-developed models by strengthening the availability, security, and competitiveness of American open-weight alternatives, while applying appropriately tailored safeguards in sensitive and high-risk applications. This investigation is intended to establish the factual record necessary to inform that approach.” The committees are exploring the national security, cybersecurity, and economic security implications of U.S. companies integrating Chinese open-weight artificial intelligence AI models into consumer platforms. Background Open-weight AI differs from other AI models because the encoded "weights" numbers dictating the AI's behavior and response capabilities to prompts are public, downloadable, and customizable. These models lack guardrails to mitigate the consequences of bad actors using the AI, such as injecting bad code or launching attacks against AI systems. America must have a sufficient open-weight AI strategy to ensure American companies and cyber defenders are not forced to choose between expensive or restricted U.S. models and Chinese open-weight alternatives. The committees began this investigation with letters https://urldefense.com/v3/ https://pq8zlsfbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001I197DHKXmyORnppsgmB30nee pbvTbUkNyRB5cRUqhPVAQZK2P8tnWXXd2ReN3Kq-bzlnhSIcPZfsV6m0oTF5axIapn3AC2BLB8yAsZr jpUZrHBoMj6AyhaoTurArh9UI9bZaQ3zTvFsRT-EXY3P URq4amOib4UxyS9T5WI0PI2xdczxwfbDmQ308Kp3Dto9S5TtLescEe7aVbDjoGEHijlH9MW8Kqkb 3FxNZnRzz65yC6-1Ugpf7pYHs 2hu5zRT0tHWvGIC4gwkhvqhhtkyqKFm82vEZiZQxeNvxgdtqf7jJI3Ih-WiblhzrW6EFea47kmqdWaeDMim6WX9ZAahJPfEFeRM9fR04dzJygXbMgcj1GyvVNtiO-RZN9pJFLGM3HWosJE=&c=79z4dfMqqOd9-pDZdCUIVhuOmQtKcDj14lMOYa1P-wxRdTFRjk5bZA==&ch=39V0kVferYhRMUUfm-1NA-Gu9GqOqFdJiOfea i8xPQ1FCRr0HX2iw== ; BSgrhSFG CdXKO1LPjKDDuahmeETSY2j8JjvR9Fyo Ti9sfcdhXAnqixG-8TcgnfSu5IDTzg0lWJLmA6tdxRnl6ovwIdBW1kmxjBkxopVqOayWedXb28$ to Anysphere https://urldefense.com/v3/ https://pq8zlsfbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001I197DHKXmyORnppsgmB30nee pbvTbUkNyRB5cRUqhPVAQZK2P8tnWXXd2ReN3KqiuVy6STGvlWewSsW751gfeXbTKHh9IygSOgqGifVevcup2iHTHpl7szKZzQ1WNAUZQdckhKYzIM9Lp8qXGUtx6DtSKZVt nPbNUjawauO1WtCCRu9j97szXDnVrtzAY17CS2R7w1gmb24k7fGqxMX8ZGak0JvROn5MskfblnY2vKlZHisH6q-Q5fWCwfB62ORjiAkgpLNDz6VffWez0eIMDj7dR-sX1UPPC4CUpFyqiwtfXNrSzQ-UZX5CPHg-mPFjq27nj-LaGzWQ-SCrrwFPyskODdq39xtHU7OJsNDtjvwtt-3NsHl1QpJkMhJWjiBb YwebVNg6GO6mAJCVeVfWXFkEgTDstWHkOrrizMUaH7qcXksYlkoVFRT98ST72O6ut5Eu CtchAUPrda0Ytv2tF0zcVEw0&c=79z4dfMqqOd9-pDZdCUIVhuOmQtKcDj14lMOYa1P-wxRdTFRjk5bZA==&ch=39V0kVferYhRMUUfm-1NA-Gu9GqOqFdJiOfea i8xPQ1FCRr0HX2iw== ; BSgrhSFG CdXKO1LPjKDDuahmeETSY2j8JjvR9Fyo Ti9sfcdhXAnqixG-8TcgnfSu5IDTzg0lWJLmA6tdxRnl6ovwIdBW1kmxjBkxopVqOayzKo68KY$ and Airbnb https://urldefense.com/v3/ https://pq8zlsfbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001I197DHKXmyORnppsgmB30nee pbvTbUkNyRB5cRUqhPVAQZK2P8tnWXXd2ReN3KqYadP-wURiMLpLYJZ0x5Qk6D9avz3ZAnhtNa7AeCouRrdQtPnlN5aau2mzAVX-z3xUKmuOAez6HcpA10E-23wA0-z8IyLSbBnFE9DHM1EsVKu oqbyYKR39liuSB17e24EHsrMV0VCJgl54B JaIoj5hk40Ci2xscbohpn2f2zaM3H5VWadEZFUPW-byihCwT4NUZChIJUMJK-kBT-kw FWI t G5-ceDytGLRoofr7gLpSWvNpcu4Dph-tJXUU012beoXdiunRFxOeHWrZVFc1NLIlL z0goMtMquHh 0bk1hZegrLTdx93FOaInelUKZPvVhLvOCoUjin8MWM uiCKOLzgRJ7BjGf6HxpW90A60hJRIt1TEBfTTUNz nBIOM5vXc35kqLBVrZ2lTfqGM4IBMpPGa8on&c=79z4dfMqqOd9-pDZdCUIVhuOmQtKcDj14lMOYa1P-wxRdTFRjk5bZA==&ch=39V0kVferYhRMUUfm-1NA-Gu9GqOqFdJiOfea i8xPQ1FCRr0HX2iw== ; BSgrhSFG CdXKO1LPjKDDuahmeETSY2j8JjvR9Fyo Ti9sfcdhXAnqixG-8TcgnfSu5IDTzg0lWJLmA6tdxRnl6ovwIdBW1kmxjBkxopVqOay O3uDbU$ in April 2026, and have since engaged in discussions with both companies regarding the technical, commercial, and security considerations surrounding their evaluation and use of Chinese open-weight models. As a next step in the investigation, the Chairmen sent this letter to DoorDash requesting similar information. The Chinese Communist Party's robust efforts to close the AI innovation gap with America through model distillation, intellectual property theft, and other illicit means attests to the growing significance of the national security threat posed by Chinese AI models.