National security concerns put DeepSeek’s future in the US at risk

The United States government is weighing potential restrictions on DeepSeek, a Chinese AI platform, as concerns mount over national security implications and data privacy. This potential action represents the latest development in escalating US-China technology tensions, occurring just as multiple Chinese companies claim significant AI breakthroughs that could intensify competition in the global AI market.

The big picture: The Trump administration is considering banning DeepSeek on government devices and potentially nationwide, citing national security concerns related to data storage on Chinese servers.

• Companies based in China can be compelled to hand over user information to the Chinese Communist Party, a concern similar to what prompted the attempted TikTok ban.
• The TikTok ban is currently on hold as Trump has extended the timeline for the app to find a US buyer.

Key restrictions under consideration: A range of potential limitations on DeepSeek are being explored by US officials, though discussions remain in early stages.

• Options include preventing US companies from building products with DeepSeek through cloud service providers like Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure, both of which currently offer the model.
• At minimum, government employees would be barred from downloading the DeepSeek app on government devices, following similar restrictions already implemented in New York and Texas.

International precedent: Several other nations have already taken action against DeepSeek due to similar concerns.

• Italy, South Korea, Australia, Canada, and Taiwan have limited access to or banned DeepSeek entirely.

Potential market impact: Restrictions could increase AI development costs for US businesses.

• Companies currently using DeepSeek might need to switch to typically more expensive US-made alternatives like OpenAI‘s models.

Concerning behavior: PCMag’s testing revealed problematic content moderation issues with DeepSeek.

• The platform was found to censor answers and repeat Chinese Communist Party propaganda.
• In some instances, DeepSeek used “we” pronouns when speaking as if it were the CCP.

The competitive landscape: The potential ban comes as Chinese AI development accelerates with new competitive offerings.

• Retail giant Alibaba claims its new Qianwen QwQ-32B model outperforms both DeepSeek and OpenAI’s offerings, citing “authoritative benchmark tests.”
• Startup Manus AI has announced what it describes as “a truly autonomous agent” representing “the next paradigm of human-machine collaboration,” though some experts question these claims.
• Manus AI is currently available only as an extremely limited, invitation-only preview, making verification of its capabilities difficult.