In a moment of déjà vu, a group of lawmakers are rallying together to introduce legislation to ban DeepSeek’s AI chatbot application from government-owned devices, citing national security concerns over potential data sharing with the Chinese Government.
U.S. Reps. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., introduced the “No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act,” which would require the Office of Management and Budget to create guidelines to remove DeepSeek from federal technologies with exceptions for law enforcement and national security-related activities.
“The Chinese Communist Party has made it abundantly clear that it will exploit any tool at its disposal to undermine our national security, spew harmful disinformation, and collect data on Americans. Now, we have deeply disturbing evidence that they are using DeepSeek to steal the sensitive data of U.S. citizens. This is a five alarm national security fire,” said Gottheimer in a statement. “We must get to the bottom of DeepSeek’s malign activities. We simply can’t risk the CCP infiltrating the devices of our government officials and jeopardizing our national security. That’s why I’m introducing this common sense bipartisan legislation with my colleague, Congressman LaHood, to immediately ban DeepSeek from all U.S. government devices. We’ve seen China’s playbook before with TikTok, and we cannot allow it to happen again.”
DeepSeek is a Chinese artificial intelligence company that gained rapid popularity in the U.S. through its chatbot app and became the most downloaded free app on the iOS app store by the end of January 2025. Now, lawmakers are raising alarms over DeepSeek’s code being directly linked to the Chinese Communist Party, which has the capability to share user data with China Mobile.
China Mobile is owned by the Chinese government, which reportedly has close ties to the Chinese military. The Federal Communications Commission banned its use in the United States.
The Chinese AI start-up significantly impacted the stock market, impacting other tech companies due to DeepSeeks’ release of its advanced AI model, which rivals the existing technologies at a fraction of the price. Nvidia, a leading supplier of AI hardware, was hit with a historical market loss of nearly $600 billion.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a ban on the use of artificial intelligence and social media applications affiliated with the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party on government-issued devices. Abbott cited concerns over data privacy and potential espionage. While Texas was the first state to prohibit the use, the concern isn’t limited to the United States. Australia, South Korea, and Italy have reportedly begun restricting DeepSeek from their government devices due to fear of data security.
The ban mirrors previous measures taken against TikTok, the Chinese-owned platform that has faced years of scrutiny over security concerns. In 2022, the government banned the platform from federal devices due to the same fears that the Chinese government could access user data through its parent company, ByteDance.
“The technology race with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not one the United States can afford to lose,” said Congressman LaHood, warning of DeepSeek’s potential threat. He continued, “It is critical that Congress safeguard Americans’ data and continue to ensure American leadership in AI. I look forward to working with Rep. Gottheimer and my colleagues in Congress to pass this critical piece of legislation.”
As the debate over foreign-owned apps intensifies, the outcome of this legislation could set a precedent moving forward on how the U.S. and its allies handle foreign technology in an era of growing cybersecurity concerns.
