A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate aims to prohibit federal contractors from using DeepSeek, a large language model developed by Chinese firm High Flyer, in any capacity related to government contracts, CyberScoop reports.
Sponsored by Senators Bill Cassidy and Jacky Rosen, the legislation also applies to any successor model from the same developer. Lawmakers cite national security risks, particularly DeepSeeks admission that it transmits user data to China, as the primary concern. They argue that inputting sensitive data into such systems could enable foreign intelligence collection. The bill empowers the Secretary of Commerce to issue waivers for national security or research needs, allowing agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to assess the models vulnerabilities. In addition, the legislation directs the Commerce Department to submit a report to Congress evaluating national security threats posed by artificial intelligence tools from adversarial nations, including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The proposed ban follows growing federal and state-level actions to limit DeepSeeks use, echoing earlier restrictions on technologies from companies like Huawei and TikTok.
Sponsored by Senators Bill Cassidy and Jacky Rosen, the legislation also applies to any successor model from the same developer. Lawmakers cite national security risks, particularly DeepSeeks admission that it transmits user data to China, as the primary concern. They argue that inputting sensitive data into such systems could enable foreign intelligence collection. The bill empowers the Secretary of Commerce to issue waivers for national security or research needs, allowing agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to assess the models vulnerabilities. In addition, the legislation directs the Commerce Department to submit a report to Congress evaluating national security threats posed by artificial intelligence tools from adversarial nations, including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The proposed ban follows growing federal and state-level actions to limit DeepSeeks use, echoing earlier restrictions on technologies from companies like Huawei and TikTok.
