The Governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, issued an order on Tuesday (February 11) banning state government employees from using artificial intelligence (AI) applications developed by the Chinese startup company DeepSeek on devices and networks provided by the state government.
Youngkin stated in a press release, “China’s DeepSeek AI poses a threat to the security of Virginia citizens, and we must continue to take measures to ensure that our operations and information are not influenced by the Chinese Communist Party.”
In the executive order issued on Tuesday, Youngkin prohibited employees from downloading or using DeepSeek applications on devices owned or leased by the government, as well as on wireless networks owned, operated, and maintained by the government.
The executive order pointed out that DeepSeek “raises significant security and privacy concerns,” with research indicating that the code contained on its website may transmit user login information to China Mobile, a state-owned telecommunications company of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Employees who have already downloaded the application were instructed to remove it from their devices by Wednesday (February 12).
Due to national security considerations, several state governments have taken similar actions.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently banned government employees from using Chinese AI applications and social media, including DeepSeek and the TikTok alternative RedNote.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul also announced on Monday (February 10) that state government employees are prohibited from downloading the DeepSeek AI application on state-owned devices and networks due to concerns that DeepSeek is “related to foreign government monitoring and censorship.”
According to the Congressional Hill Report, at the federal level, members of the House Intelligence Committee, Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer from New Jersey, and Republican Congressman Darin LaHood from Illinois jointly introduced a bill last week to prohibit the use of DeepSeek on federal government devices.
The lawmakers pointed out that the application “threatens user sensitive data.”
After the launch of its AI model last month, DeepSeek quickly became a focal point in the market, with the Chinese startup claiming that its performance is comparable to OpenAI’s model and the development cost is only $5.6 million, sparking a substantial amount of skepticism. Additionally, due to privacy and security concerns, it has been banned by multiple governments worldwide.