Mounting data privacy concerns surrounding Chinese artificial intelligence platform DeepSeek have prompted U.S. Commerce Department bureaus to ban its usage across all government-issued devices, Reuters reports.
"Do not download, view, access any applications, desktop apps or websites related to DeepSeek," said a letter to Commerce Department staffers.
This development comes after legislation that would restrict DeepSeek use across the U.S. government was unveiled by House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence members Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), and Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), who later urged state governors to issue a similar prohibition.
"By using DeepSeek, users are unknowingly sharing highly sensitive, proprietary information with the [Chinese Communist Party] — such as contracts, documents, and financial records," said the lawmakers in letters to the governors earlier this month. "In the wrong hands, this data is an enormous asset to the CCP, a known foreign adversary."
DeepSeek has already been forbidden in New York, Texas, and Virginia.
