The United States (US) government is considering banning Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot DeepSeek, according to reports by international media.
The Trump administration is reportedly mulling prohibiting DeepSeek on federal devices over national security concerns, according to informed sources. US officials have expressed concerns regarding the firm’s handling of user data, which is stored in servers in China. The development was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The Trump administration is also considering removing the chatbot from app stores and restricting DeepSeek’s AI models to the consumers of US-based cloud service providers. On Thursday, 21 state attorneys general called on Congress to approve legislation prohibiting downloads and use of DeepSeek’s AI software on government devices.
There has been no comment by the White House on the possible ban so far.
Last month, two lawmakers proposed a piece of legislation, titled “No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act”, calling for a ban on DeepSeek on government-issued devices. They claimed the software “compromises American users’ sensitive data” and that “DeepSeek’s code is directly linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)”.
“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,” one of them said. “Now, we have deeply disturbing evidence that they are using DeepSeek to steal the sensitive data of U.S. citizens.”
On the other hand, South Korea has prohibited the chatbot at its trade and defense ministries due to concerns about data management. DeepSeek is also restricted in Australia, Taiwan, and Italy over issues related to the handling of citizens’ personal information.
