On Thursday, United States Congress members plan to introduce a bill that would prohibit government devices from using the DeepSeek chatbot application, citing concerns that the app may transmit user information to the Chinese government, posing a security risk.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, the bill is co-sponsored by Republican Congressman Darin LaHood from Illinois and Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer from New Jersey. This legislation follows a similar pattern to Congress’s approach towards TikTok, first disabling government device usage and then advocating for a comprehensive ban.
“This should be a straightforward decision, we must take immediate action to prevent adversaries from accessing information from our government,” stated Gottheimer.
DeepSeek is a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company that surged in popularity last month, briefly becoming the most downloaded application in the United States, attracting consumers, businesses, and developers due to its open-source technology. However, security researchers discovered that DeepSeek’s website code may automatically send some user login information to China Mobile, a company banned from operating in the United States due to its close ties with the Chinese military.
Canadian cybersecurity company Feroot Security was the first to notice this phenomenon and provided an analysis report to the Associated Press. Another group of independent experts later confirmed that DeepSeek’s web code is indeed linked to China Mobile.
CEO of Feroot Security, Ivan Tsarynny, stated, “DeepSeek’s tools are gathering all information about U.S. users and their connections. Our personal information is being sent to China, a fact that cannot be denied.”
This analysis prompted LaHood and Gottheimer to push for legislation. Both are the highest-ranking Republican and Democratic members of a subcommittee under the House Select Committee on Intelligence.
LaHood emphasized, “We cannot allow Chinese companies to access sensitive government or personal data.”
Several countries have taken action against DeepSeek. Australia banned the application from government systems on February 6, while multiple government departments in South Korea have implemented similar measures. Italy also enforced a ban in January.
In the United States, some federal agencies such as the U.S. Navy and NASA have blocked DeepSeek due to security and privacy concerns. Additionally, Texas became the first state to fully prohibit the app’s usage on government devices, citing national security risks.
In 2022, Congress passed legislation to ban TikTok from government devices, subsequently advocating for a complete ban and requiring its separation from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. While TikTok has repeatedly claimed not to share U.S. user data with the Chinese government, it still faces pressure for a potential sale or ban.