Some US lawmakers are concerned about privacy and information security if the AI chatbot DeepSeek is used on government devices.
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| Within days of its launch, the DeepSeek app surpassed ChatGPT in downloads from Apple's App Store, triggering a global sell-off in tech stocks. (Source: Reuters) |
According to CNN , two US congressmen Darin LaHood (Republican, Illinois) and Josh Gottheimer (Democrat, New Jersey) plan to propose a bill on February 7 (local time) to ban the use of AI chatbot DeepSeek on government devices due to national security concerns.
DeepSeek is the latest target in the tech rivalry between the U.S. and China. The move comes weeks after the Chinese startup surprised Silicon Valley and Wall Street with the launch of its advanced AI model, R1, which is comparable to leading U.S. models but costs less to train and uses less energy.
The fact that a Chinese company that was only founded a year ago and has limited access to America's most powerful AI chips has been able to develop cutting-edge technology has raised concerns that the US could fall behind China in the field of AI.
The argument in the proposed bill is similar to provisions that restrict TikTok in the US, due to concerns that TikTok's parent company ByteDance could be forced to share sensitive US user data with the Chinese government.
If passed, the bill would give US government agencies 60 days to develop standards and guidance to remove DeepSeek, as well as any other apps developed by DeepSeek's parent company High Flyer, from official devices.
The proposal is similar to previous moves by Australia, Italy and Taiwan (China). DeepSeek has not yet responded to this issue.
Many AI companies use data from users’ conversations with chatbots to improve their models, raising privacy concerns. However, security experts warn that DeepSeek could pose a greater risk because the company is based in China.
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