DeepSeek faces potential ban from US government devices

Distrust of chatbot by US Congress echoes that of TikTok

The success of DeepSeek is being met with concern in the form of legislation, which seeks to ban the AI chatbot on US government devices. Reuters

A new bill introduced in the US Congress could ban DeepSeek from government devices.

A bipartisan group of senators, including Nevada Democrat Jacky Rosen, Ohio Republican Jon Husted and Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts, has introduced a bill that seeks to address security concerns about the China-based generative artificial intelligence chatbot. The legislation comes weeks after a similar bipartisan bill was introduced in the House of Representatives.

“The Chinese Communist Party has made it abundantly clear that it will exploit any tool at its disposal to undermine our national security, spew harmful disinformation and collect data on Americans,” Democratic representative Josh Gottheimer said this month.

Optimism over AI's potential has sparked a blistering rally in China's stock market over the past month. Photo: Bloomberg

“Now, we have deeply disturbing evidence that they are using DeepSeek to steal the sensitive data of US citizens. This is a five-alarm national security fire.”

Most recently, Australian politicians made the decision to ban DeepSeek on government computers and mobile devices over concerns from technology security experts about potential user-data vulnerability related to the Chinese government.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has also demanded that state government workers and agencies do not download or install DeepSeek, while the state of New York announced a ban on the chatbot on government devices as well.

What is DeepSeek and why is it disrupting the AI sector?

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Some have argued that, like TikTok, which is also based in China, DeepSeek's data is subject to Beijing's rules and regulations and presents a national security concern.

TikTok has been banned from US government devices at the municipal, state and federal level. A law that sought to ban the platform across the country was upheld by the Supreme Court last month but the grace period was extended by President Donald Trump.

Some say that due to its origins in China, DeepSeek will face a similar regulatory trajectory to TikTok. EPA

Some observers say DeepSeek is heading down the same regulatory path as TikTok, as other worries about the AI app mount.

Personal data aspects aside, there is growing concern that DeepSeek may have stolen from US technology companies, with Microsoft and OpenAI currently investigating the possibility that the China-based company obtained data illegally for use on its AI platform.

“We know that groups in the PRC are actively working to use methods, including what’s known as distillation, to try to replicate advanced US AI models,” an OpenAI representative told The National.

“We are aware of and reviewing indications that DeepSeek may have inappropriately distilled our models and will share information as we know more. We take aggressive, proactive countermeasures to protect our technology and will continue working closely with the US government to protect the most capable models being built here.”

The bills seeking to ban DeepSeek on US government devices have not yet made it out of their respective legislative committees, so it remains to be seen if they will receive a vote.

Meanwhile, DeepSeek is still near the top of many mobile app-store download charts amid claims that it equals rival chatbots such as ChatGPT while using significantly less computing power at a fraction of the cost.