Senators Darin LaHood and Josh Gottheimer are preparing to introduce legislation to ban the use of DeepSeek on government devices over national security concerns. DeepSeek is the latest target in the battle for technological supremacy between the United States and China.

deepseek wsj
DeepSeek's AI models and applications are receiving great attention globally. Photo: WSJ

A few weeks ago, DeepSeek shocked Silicon Valley and Wall Street when it announced its advanced AI model R1, which has the same capabilities as leading AI models, but is cheaper to train. The model from a Chinese startup that is more than a year old has raised concerns that the US may fall behind in AI.

If the bill passes, government agencies would have 60 days to come up with standards and guidelines for removing DeepSeek, as well as any other apps from parent company High Flyer, from government devices.

Previously, Australia, Italy and several organizations issued similar bans.

The language in the bill is similar to a law that banned TikTok in the US over concerns that its parent company ByteDance could share US user data with China.

Federal and state agencies will begin banning TikTok from public devices starting in 2022. ByteDance has less than 60 days to divest or face a ban on the short-video app.

Many AI companies use input from users’ conversations with chatbots to train and improve their models, raising security concerns. But experts warn that DeepSeek poses a greater risk because of its Chinese ownership.

“Users need to be aware that any data shared with the platform could be accessed by the government under Chinese cybersecurity laws, which force businesses to provide access to data upon request by authorities,” commented NordVPN cybersecurity expert Adrianus Warmenhoven.

(According to CNN)