The US Congress has passed a law banning the use of the Chinese chatbot DeepSeek by federal employees, Axios reports.
DeepSeek, developed by a Chinese company, quickly gained popularity due to its artificial intelligence capabilities. However, its origins have raised concerns among U.S. lawmakers who fear that the use of this service could lead to the leakage of sensitive information.
“At this time, DeepSeek is under review by the CAO and is currently unauthorized for official House use,” the congressmen's offices received, according to Axios.
The message sent to the congressmen said that "attackers are already using DeepSeek to spread malware and infect devices." To mitigate these risks, Congress has taken steps to restrict DeepSeek from running on all devices provided to employees. Employees are also prohibited from installing DeepSeek on official phones, computers, and tablets.
The ban on the use of DeepSeek by federal employees is part of a broader US strategy to limit the influence of Chinese tech companies on US infrastructure and protect national security. Previously, restrictions on the use of other Chinese platforms, such as TikTok, have been imposed over similar concerns.
This decision underscores the tensions between the US and China in the technology sector and the importance of carefully monitoring the use of foreign technology in key sectors. Similar measures are expected to be extended to other technological products and services from countries that may pose a threat to national security.
By the way, it has recently become known that the Pentagon started blocking DeepSeek when the department's employees started actively using the Chinese AI assistant.