The US is planning to introduce legislation that would ban the use of the DeepSeek chatbot on government devices over new security concerns that the app could provide user information to the Chinese government. The procedure would be reminiscent of the US ban on TikTok.
The US is planning to introduce legislation that would ban the use of the DeepSeek chatbot on government devices over new security concerns that the app could provide user information to the Chinese government. The procedure would be reminiscent of the US ban on TikTok.
According to the WSJ, the bill, written by Republicans and Democrats, repeats the strategy that Congress used to ban TikTok on government devices, which was the beginning of the company’s blocking of operations in the United States.
«This should leave no doubt about the actions we must take immediately to prevent the enemy from obtaining information from our government», — said one of the authors of the bill to ban DeepSeek.
Chinese startup DeepSeek’s chatbot is currently the most downloaded app in the U.S. The company has also made its models open source, which has helped it become instantly popular with consumers, businesses, and developers.
Cybersecurity experts point out that the chatbot app intentionally hides code that can send login details to China Mobile, a state-owned telecommunications company that is banned from operating in the United States.
«Our personal information is being sent to China, no one denies that, and the DeepSeek tool collects everything that American users connect to it,» said the CEO of Feroot Security, a company specializing in data protection and cybersecurity.
This assessment prompted the bill to be drafted by Darin LaHuda and Josh Gottheimer, who led the subcommittee of the House Intelligence Committee, Republican and Democratic, respectively.
«Under no circumstances can we allow a CCP company to receive sensitive government or personal data», — LaHood said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
Some other countries have already taken steps to prohibit the app from obtaining government data.
Several countries and government organizations have now banned or restricted the use of the Chinese AI app DeepSeek due to concerns about national security and data privacy. These include:
Australia has banned the use of DeepSeek on all government systems and devices after an assessment found an unacceptable risk to national security.
Italy has blocked access to DeepSeek, removing the app from the Apple and Google stores, due to concerns about the security of user data and possible violation of EU data protection laws.
Taiwan has banned the use of DeepSeek in government agencies due to concerns about the transfer of sensitive data abroad.
In South Korea, several ministries have temporarily blocked access to DeepSeek due to concerns about data security.
In the Netherlands, the government banned civil servants from using DeepSeek, citing risks of espionage and data transfer to the Chinese government.
In the US, some federal agencies, such as the US Navy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, have already blocked the app for security reasons. Texas became the first US state to ban DeepSeek on government devices, citing national security concerns.
The US Congress has banned TikTok from government devices in 2022, including legislation in a spending bill. Lawmakers were concerned that the Chinese government could access user data and sought to ban the app first on government devices and then nationwide. Last year, a bill was passed to ban TikTok in the US unless an American buyer could be found to force it to separate from its Chinese owner, ByteDance.
When the deadline expired and TikTok was still not sold, President Donald Trump extended the time for the app to find an American buyer.
TikTok has repeatedly stated that it has never shared American user data with the Chinese government and would not do so if asked.
Recall that dev.ua did a detailed analysis of how DeepSeek managed to outperform its competitors. It noted that DeepSeek, as a Chinese company, is subject to comparative analysis by the Chinese Internet regulator to ensure that its models’ responses «embody core socialist values.»
Many Chinese AI systems refuse to respond to topics that could anger regulators, such as speculation about Xi Jinping’s regime, Taiwan, or the Tiananmen Square uprising (the site of the 1989 protests related to the democracy movement and the crackdown on protesters).
