Lawmakers propose new legislation to ban DeepSeek from federal devices
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) is demanding swift action after ABC News' exclusive reporting about hidden links in DeepSeek's artificial intelligence tool that could potentially send data to a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company.
"I think we should ban DeepSeek from all government devices immediately. No one should be allowed to download it onto their device," Gottheimer, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, told ABC News.
A new bill Gottheimer proposed on Thursday is called the "No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act" and it would require the Office of Management and Budget to develop guidelines within 60 days for the removal of DeepSeek from federal technologies, with exceptions for law enforcement and national security-related activity.
The bill would ban DeepSeek from federal devices as well as any future product developed by High-Flyer, the artificial intelligent tool's hedge fund backers.
This comes after the U.S. House of Representatives chief administrative officer issued a memo urging staffers against using DeepSeek last week.
Gottheimer is one of the lawmakers behind the TikTok bill, which passed in April 2024 and led to a 24-hour blackout for the app's American users the day before President Donald Trump's second inauguration.
There are fears DeepSeek could pose a risk to national security after Ivan Tsarynny, CEO and founder of cybersecurity research firm Feroot, told ABC News he found hidden code with the capability to send data to servers under the control of the Chinese government.
"Even though we all know DeepSeek is a Chinese organization, what is really, really standing out is now we see direct links to servers and to companies in China that are under control of the Chinese government. And this is something that we have never seen in the past."
"There are technologies that are embedded into the DeepSeek website that are tracking us. They have the capability to track across any other website… your interests outside of DeepSeek," Tsarynny told ABC News. "The type of queries, type of questions, types of topics that you ask and analyze in DeepSeek makes a very, very sensitive, very personal profile."
DeepSake and High-Flyer have not responded to repeated requests for comment.
