The White House is considering multiple measures to restrict Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek due to national security concerns, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to The Wall Street Journal, officials are particularly worried about how the Chinese company handles user data, which DeepSeek acknowledges is stored on servers in China.
President Donald Trump's administration will likely implement a rule prohibiting the download of DeepSeek's chatbot application on US government devices, The Wall Street Journal reports based on information from people familiar with the discussions. Officials are concerned that DeepSeek hasn't adequately explained its data collection practices, including how it uses the information and who can access it.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the administration is also exploring two additional potential restrictions: a complete ban of the DeepSeek app from US app stores and limitations on how American cloud service providers can offer DeepSeek's AI models to their customers. Sources close to the matter told The Wall Street Journal these discussions remain in preliminary stages.
DeepSeek created significant disruption in both Silicon Valley and Washington earlier this year when it released a powerful AI model developed at substantially lower costs than its American competitors. The Wall Street Journal notes that for a brief period in January, DeepSeek's chatbot became the world's most downloaded application, though it dropped to seventh place the following month, according to data from Sensor Tower, which tracks app store downloads.
Several governments worldwide have already implemented restrictions on DeepSeek. The company removed its app from Italian app stores, while South Korea suspended new downloads after DeepSeek failed to address regulatory concerns regarding its privacy policy. Authorities in Australia, Canada and Taiwan have banned the use of DeepSeek on government devices.
While no comprehensive prohibition exists within the US government, certain departments including the Navy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have already banned DeepSeek's app due to security and privacy issues. States such as New York and Texas have also taken steps to limit its use.
Implementing a general public ban on DeepSeek presents greater challenges than removing it from government devices. The company has made its AI models available as open-source, meaning they are freely available for download and replication. Major US cloud vendors currently provide the Chinese startup's models as part of their customer services, and restricting this access could provoke negative reactions from businesses and investors who favor open technology sharing.
"US officials considering technology controls are dealing with new territory here on what to do with open-sourced models," Paul Triolo, a partner at DGA-Albright Stonebridge in Washington, DC, told The Wall Street Journal.
Companies can operate open-source models on their own infrastructure, which provides them control over data security and addresses national security concerns, Triolo explained to The Wall Street Journal.
Silicon Valley AI search company Perplexity, which offers DeepSeek's open-source model to customers, has stated the model operates on secure US-based data centers independently of DeepSeek's website.
When asked about DeepSeek during a Friday news conference, Wang Yi, China's foreign minister, said US efforts to decouple from China would be counterproductive. "Where there are blockades, there are breakthroughs," Wang told reporters, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The restrictions being considered by the Trump administration are separate from a bipartisan bill introduced in Congress last month that calls for banning the app from federal government devices.
