US lawmakers are intensifying efforts to ban Chinese artificial intelligence program DeepSeek from government devices, citing national security concerns.
On Thursday, Representatives Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey) and Darin LaHood (R-Illinois) introduced a bipartisan bill seeking to prohibit the use of DeepSeek, warning of its alleged ties to the Chinese government and potential risks to user data security.
On Wednesday, a report by US cybersecurity firm Feroot Security claimed that the AI model contains hidden code capable of transmitting user data to China Mobile, a state-owned telecom firm.
DeepSeek stunned the global AI industry with the launch of its low-cost, high-quality chatbot in January.
The launch disrupted the lead the US and other countries had in the race to develop the technology.
“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 Gottheimer said in a statement.
LaHood called DeepSeek a “CCP-affiliated company” and stated that “under no circumstances” can it be allowed to “obtain sensitive government or personal data.”
Already, South Korean ministries and police have announced that they are blocking DeepSeek’s access to their computers after the company failed to respond to a data watchdog’s request about how it manages user information.
Australia has also banned DeepSeek from all government devices on the advice of security agencies, while France and Italy have raised concerns about DeepSeek’s data practices