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Seven Republican senators recently signed on to a letter asking the Commerce Department to examine data security risks and potential backdoors in Chinese open-source artificial intelligence (AI) models such as DeepSeek.
The group, led by Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), who
announced the Aug. 1 letter in a press release on Aug. 4, asked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to identify any threats from data collection by AI use case applications being sent back to China-based servers.
The senators also want to know whether the Chinese AI models are “feeding American personal or enterprise data” to China’s military or Chinese companies with ties to either the Chinese military or surveillance apparatus.
The
letter also asks Lutnick how he would work with relevant agencies to investigate how U.S. companies and individuals “could be harmed by AI applications built atop R1 and other Chinese open-source models.”
The senators also seek information on “any findings related to how Chinese open-source models may have improperly accessed export-controlled semiconductors or violated use terms of U.S. models to advance their capabilities.”
Other signatories on the letter include Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Jon Husted (R-Ohio), and John Curtis (R-Utah). Young, Budd, and Cornyn serve on the Select Committee on Intelligence.
DeepSeek, based in eastern China’s Hangzhou city,
launched its R1 model in January. The Epoch Times’
examination of the AI chatbot, published in February, found that it closely adheres to the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), censoring responses critical of the Chinese regime and promoting narratives that support it.
Many states have banned the use of DeepSeek on government networks and devices, including
Texas,
New York, Virginia, Iowa, South Dakota, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
In January, Lutnick
said that DeepSeek appeared to have misappropriated U.S. AI technology and pledged to impose restrictions.
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The House Select Committee on the CCP
released a report on DeepSeek in April, saying that DeepSeek’s AI model “appears to have been built using stolen U.S. technology on the back of U.S. semiconductor chips that are prohibited from sale to China.”
The senators’ letter
referenced recent media reports citing U.S. officials alleging that DeepSeek “has willingly provided and will likely continue to provide support to China’s military and intelligence operations.”
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The letter also pointed to findings
published by cybersecurity company Wiz Research in January, which found DeepSeek’s publicly accessible database leaking sensitive information, including chat history.
Husted and Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) introduced the No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act (S.756) in February. If enacted, it would ban the use of the AI chatbot on all government devices and networks.
“DeepSeek is a tool that perpetuates Communist China’s agenda—full stop. It exposes Americans’ data to our adversary’s government, lies to its users and exploits American workers’ AI advances. We can’t afford for U.S. officials to play into Beijing’s hands by hosting this hostile bot on their devices,” Husted
said in a statement at the time.
The House version of the legislation (H.R.1121), led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), was also
introduced in February.
“DeepSeek is stealing private information from Americans and feeding it directly to the Chinese Communist Party—a dangerous threat,” Gottheimer
wrote on X in June. “That’s why I’m leading bipartisan, bicameral legislation to ban the app from all government devices and protect our national security.”
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In March, attorneys general from 21 states
called on Congress to pass the legislation in a letter sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Australia, the Netherlands,
South Korea, and
Taiwan have blocked the AI chatbot on devices connected to their administrative functions. Italy has
banned it from the country completely.
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Udumbara
