A pair of US lawmakers are working on new legislation that aims to prohibit government workers from using the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Chinese startup DeepSeek on official devices. The proposed bill, set to be introduced by Reps. Darin LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, and Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, is driven by national security concerns.
The move comes in the wake of DeepSeek's recent release of an advanced AI model named R1, which has capabilities comparable to leading American models but is more cost-effective and energy-efficient. This development has raised alarms in both Silicon Valley and Wall Street, as the Chinese startup, under US export restrictions on powerful AI chips, poses a potential threat to America's AI dominance.
If the legislation is approved, government agencies will have a 60-day window to establish protocols for removing DeepSeek and any other applications created by its parent company, High Flyer, from official devices. This initiative mirrors actions taken by countries like Australia, Italy, and Taiwan in response to similar concerns. DeepSeek has not yet provided a response to the proposed ban.
The language of the bill draws parallels to previous efforts aimed at limiting access to TikTok in the US due to fears that the Chinese-owned company, ByteDance, could be compelled to share sensitive user data with the Chinese government.
