Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares joined 20 other attorneys general in writing Congress a letter urging them to pass the “No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act.” The legislation would prohibit government devices from downloading and using the China-based DeepSeek artificial intelligence software.
In a letter sent to congressional leadership Thursday, the attorney’s general outlined what they believe to be the threat that DeepSeek poses to the country. “Congress needs to pass this bipartisan bill to protect our nation’s secrets from Chinese espionage,” the letter states.
The announcement from Miyares said the platform has the capability to send user data directly to the Chinese Communist Party and users “may unknowingly be creating accounts in China, making their identities and online behavior visible to the Chinese government.”
“DeepSeek represents not just a security risk but a privacy risk for Virginians as well,” Miyares said. “The weaponization of information by America’s adversaries remains a clear, omnipresent, and ongoing threat to our national security which cannot be ignored. I strongly urge Congress to act swiftly and in a bi-partisan matter to ban DeepSeek on government devices and protect American interests from foreign adversaries.”
DeepSeek has already been blocked on government devices in Canada, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan, while Italy has blocked the program across the entire country.
Miyares’ office said DeepSeek is also linked to China Mobile, which has close ties to the Chinese military and has been sanctioned by the U.S. government.
“Given the Chinese desire to steal America’s secrets and the ability of DeepSeek to carry out this theft, Congress should quickly pass legislation to ban DeepSeek on government devices,” the attorneys general wrote.
Congress took action recently to ban TikTok on government devices for similar concerns that Bytedance, the company that owns TikTok, could potentially share data with the CCP.
“Like it did with TikTok, Congress should protect America’s national security by banning DeepSeek
on government devices,” the letter concludes.