- New probe into DeepSeek has been requested by a group of US Senators
- The Senators cite national security concerns around Chinese firm
- Many US Government departments have already banned the chatbot
The ongoing dispute between Chinese tech firms and the US Government continues, after a group of seven Republican Senators asked the Department of Commerce to evaluate data security risks that models from Chinese companies pose, specifically the AI chatbot DeepSeek.
Chinese tech companies are facing huge barriers to enter the US market due to the tensions between the two countries, but DeepSeek's revolutionary open source model has sent waves through the AI landscape, thanks to the speed and low cost of development.
However, security concerns have been raised, prompting multiple US Government departments to ban the use of the model, with one study even claiming DeepSeek is 11 times more dangerous than competitor AI chatbots.
Secrets at risk
The senators, John Justed, Tedd Budd, John Cornyn, Marsha Blackburn, Bill Cassidy, John Curtis, and Todd Young all signed a letter outlining the need to prioritise home-grown AI models, as well as the ‘deeply troubling allegations’ that DeepSeek feeds sensitive information back to servers with links to the Chinese government.
“DeepSeek’s R1’s model release in late January demonstrated the aptitude of People’s Republic of China (PRC) national AI talent and the progress their home-grown models have made relative to leading U.S. products,“ the letter explains.
“The Trump Administration has rightly emphasized winning the AI competition against the PRC, and the development of AI use case applications for businesses and consumers is an important facet of that competition. Ensuring that such applications are secure and not prone to leaking secure information and malign exploitation is paramount.”
Chinese embassy spokesman Mr. Liu Pengyu has told TechRadar Pro these accusations 'totally groundless' and reiterated the state has no direct ties to Chinese tech firms operating overseas;
"China is embracing the AI transformation and is working hard to advance AI. We take the safety and security of AI seriously, and support entrepreneurial innovation by Chinese companies, thus contributing China’s part to global AI development. The Chinese government takes data privacy and security very seriously and protects it in accordance with the law."
"The Chinese government has never asked and will never ask any company or individual to collect or store data against laws. China is against drawing lines along ideological differences, overstretching the concept of national security, or politicizing trade and tech issues."
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