U.S. Government Wants to Ban DeepSeek, as Chinese AI Shocks Market

A new bipartisan bill is being introduced in the U.S. to ban DeepSeek from government devices. The bill, backed by Darin LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, and Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat from New Jersey, is pushing for a nationwide ban similar to what happened with TikTok.

DeepSeek is a Chinese-made AI chatbot that became popular quickly, offering similar performance to ChatGPT but at a much lower price. However, it raised serious concerns when it was discovered that user data is being sent to a Chinese company connected to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This company had previously been banned from operating in the U.S.

In response, several government organizations like NASA and the U.S. Navy have already blocked DeepSeek on their devices, and Texas has taken its own steps to ban the app at the state level. Now, this new bill is aiming to take the ban further by stopping its use across all federal government devices.

This push to ban DeepSeek mirrors what happened with TikTok. Initially, there were concerns about TikTok’s connection to China, but the issue didn’t escalate quickly. The U.S. government eventually banned TikTok from government devices, and now it’s trying to force ByteDance, the parent company, to sell the app to a U.S.-based firm.

With DeepSeek, the situation is more straightforward: there is direct evidence of data being shared with the Chinese government, unlike TikTok, where proof has been less clear.

The bill to ban DeepSeek is expected to be introduced soon, and it will be interesting to see how quickly it moves through the process. The concerns over data security and foreign influence are pushing U.S. lawmakers to act quickly on this new threat.

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