Attorneys general from 21 states are urging Congress to ban the Chinese artificial intelligence application DeepSeek over spying concerns.
The state legal leaders said in a letter to four senior Republican and Democratic congressional leaders that during the Biden administration Chinese hackers were permitted to operate freely in stealing sensitive data from Americans.
The March 6 letter called on Congress to pass the “No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act,” which would ban the AI chatbot within government.
“DeepSeek is a trojan horse sent in by the Chinese Communist Party to spy on our country,” said Montana Attorney General Austin Knudson, who led the organization of the letter. “It poses a serious national security risk and should not be allowed on government devices.”
The app is capable of tracking users’ search histories, internet protocol addresses and keystroke patterns and then sending the information to the Chinese government, he said.
DeepSeek is a new Chinese AI chatbot that surfaced in January reportedly using low-cost technology that matches more expensive U.S. AI models.
The letter stated that China has been linked to serious cyberthreats, including hacking Treasury Department computers and stealing information from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which is in charge of monitoring Chinese company and land purchases in the U.S.
Other Chinese hacking includes large-scale theft of information from Americans working in government and political organizations.
“And we all remember the Chinese spy balloon that collected information from some of America’s most secret and important military sites while it floated across the country,” the letter said.
“DeepSeek appears to be another tool for Chinese spies to attack America’s national security,” the attorneys general stated.
According to cybersecurity experts, DeepSeek uses hidden code that can automatically send user data directly to the Chinese government.
Governments in Canada, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan already blocked access to DeepSeek on government devices over the spying concerns.
Private-sector companies also are working to block usage to the app.
Michael Lucci, founder of the group State Armor that is focused on state national security issues, said DeepSeek is a significant threat to American prosperity, society and national security.
“TikTok was bad enough, but DeepSeek, which was created with stolen American technology, represents a step change in [China’s] campaign of asymmetric warfare against the United States,” Mr. Lucci said.
“By using DeepSeek in our everyday lives, Americans are helping the CCP train an AI that it can then deploy against our critical infrastructure, our largest companies, and even our military.”
DeepSeek adheres strictly to Chinese Communist Party restrictions for domestic AI companies and gives users propaganda answers to sensitive questions, according to an online analysis by a Silicon Valley AI security firm disclosed in January by The Washington Times.
The attorneys general letter said the threat should be addressed by Congress’ quickly passing the legislation to ban DeepSeek on government devices.
The bill was introduced Feb. 6 by Reps. Darin LaHood, Illinois Republican and Josh Gottheimer, New Jersey Democrat, along with 11 Republican and 13 Democratic cosponsors.
In addition to Montana, those signing included attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisianna, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
In a related development, the White House is considering regulations that would restrict DeepSeek by banning the app on government devices in advance of the legislation, according to a Trump administration official.
The proposed rules were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
White House concerns are based on capabilities of the AI chatbot for stealing Americans personal data.
In addition to a regulation banning government devices from downloading DeepSeek, the administration also is considering prohibiting American app stores from allowing downloads, and restricting use of DeepSeek on cloud-based storage services.
President Trump earlier this year took steps to temporarily prevent the enforcement of a law banning the video-sharing app TikTok over Chinese spying and influence operations fears.
The action has raised concerns that the president does not regard Chinese digital information collection to be a major threat, despite federal efforts during the Biden administration to highlight the dangers.
In Beijing, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters that efforts by the United States to restrict technology like DeepSeek would fail.
He compared DeepSeek to earlier breakthroughs in nuclear weapons, missiles, satellites, 5G telecommunications technology and quantum computing.
“But where there is blockade, there is breakthrough; where there is suppression, there is innovation; where there is the fiercest storm, there is the platform launching China’s science and technology skyward like the Chinese mythological hero Nezha soaring into the heavens,” Mr. Wang said.
