US lawmakers want to ban DeepSeek from government devices

A pair of US lawmakers want to ban public officials from using Chinese startup DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence chatbot on government devices.

Representatives Darin LaHood, Republican from Illinois, and Josh Gottheimer, Democrat from New Jersey, will propose legislation on Friday that would ban DeepSeek’s use on government devices on national security grounds.

DeepSeek is just the latest target in a broader battle for technological supremacy between the United States and China.

The attempted crackdown comes weeks after DeepSeek shocked Silicon Valley and Wall Street by releasing an advanced artificial intelligence model, called R1, that is as capable as the best U.S. models, despite being cheaper to train and using less power. The model—from a year-old Chinese company and subject to U.S. export restrictions on the most powerful AI chips—raised concerns that the U.S. could fall behind China in artificial intelligence.

If passed, the bill would give government agencies 60 days to develop rules and guidelines for removing DeepSeek—as well as any other apps developed by its parent company, High Flyer—from official devices.

The proposal follows similar ones in Australia, Italy, and Taiwan.

DeepSeek did not respond to a request for comment.