Miyares, 20 other attorneys general want AI app DeepSeek banned from government devices

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and several other states' attorneys general sent a letter to U.S. Congressional leadership asking them to pass legislation that would ban DeepSeek -- an artificial intelligence (AI) program based in Hangzhou, China -- from all government devices.

On Thursday, March 6, Miyares joined 20 other attorneys generals -- including the attorneys general from Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Texas, among others -- in advocating for the "No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act."

This legislation would prevent DeepSeek, an up-and-coming competitor to the popular AI program ChatGPT, from being downloaded on any government device.

A report from Reuters explains that DeepSeek is the result of a Chinese startup founded by Liang Wenfeng, a man born in rural China in 1985. Reuters credits his hedge fund, High-Flyer, for his financial success.

In their letter, the 21 attorneys general cited concerns about the personal data of American users being compromised through usage of DeepSeek.

“DeepSeek represents not just a security risk, but a privacy risk for Virginians as well,” said Miyares in a press release from his office. “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.”

Per ABC News, DeepSeek does have the capability within its code to send user data to the Chinese government.

"DeepSeek is also linked to China Mobile, which has close ties to the Chinese military and has been sanctioned by the U.S. government," Miyares' office said.

The experts ABC News spoke to admitted that it's impossible to know what, if any, data is actually being given to China Mobile. The app's privacy policy discloses that it collects a variety of user data, even from other apps used on a person's device.

“Congress should protect America’s national security by banning DeepSeek on government devices," the attorneys general's letter reads. "If it has not already taken action to administratively ban DeepSeek, we trust that the Trump Administration would swiftly implement this ban to protect our national security from America’s ‘potent and dangerous’ adversary."

According to Miyares' office, DeepSeek has already been banned from government devices in countries like Canada, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan. The office added that Italy has blocked the program on all devices countrywide.