A pair of US lawmakers are working on new legislation that aims to prohibit government workers from using the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Chinese startup DeepSeek on official devices. The proposed bill, set to be introduced by Reps. Darin LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, and Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, is driven by national security concerns.
The move comes in the wake of DeepSeek's recent release of an advanced AI model named R1, which has capabilities comparable to leading American models but is more cost-effective and energy-efficient. This development has raised alarms in both Silicon Valley and Wall Street, as the Chinese startup, under US export restrictions on powerful AI chips, poses a potential threat to America's AI dominance.
