Commerce Department divisions reportedly ban DeepSeek from government devices

Several Department of Commerce bureaus are said to have told staff not to use DeepSeek's AI chatbot on government devices. "To help keep Department of Commerce information systems safe, access to the new Chinese based AI DeepSeek is broadly prohibited on all [government-furnished equipment]," one bureau told staff in an email, Reuters reports. "Do not download, view, access any applications, desktop apps or websites related to DeepSeek."

The extent of any DeepSeek ban within the government as a whole is not yet known. Several states — including New York, Texas and Virginia — have banned DeepSeek from government devices. Some members of Congress and state attorneys general have pushed for legislation to prohibit the generative AI app on federal devices amid concerns over privacy and the security of government data.

The emergence of DeepSeek in January as a lower-cost and open-source AI model that can compete with those from the likes of OpenAI and Google saw US tech stocks take a significant hit. The DeekSeek app soared to the top of Apple’s App Store rankings at that time.

OpenAI accused Chinese startups of cribbing from its AI models’ copybook and said that it was looking into DeepSeek, among others. The company this month claimed DeepSeek was "state-subsidized" and "state-controlled," and called for its ban on US government, military and intelligence devices.

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