New York has banned AI startup DeepSeek from government devices and networks due to “serious concerns” about the potential data privacy and censorship risks brought about by the China-based app, Gov. Kathy Hochul said I checked on Monday.
Hochul's office cited horrors about “such as surveillance and censorship of foreign governments, how to use Deepseek to collect user data and steal technology secrets.”
“Public safety is my number one priority and we are actively working to protect New Yorkers from foreign and domestic threats,” Hochul said in a statement.
“New York will continue to fight cyber threats, ensuring data privacy and safety, and protecting state-sponsored censorship.”
Deepseek surged to the top of the App Store download chart last month, claiming it had no access to cutting-edge NVIDIA computer chips after claiming the company had trained advanced AI models for under $6 million. It is subject to AI and US export controls.
Cyber experts pose significant national security risks by storing large amounts of data, such as IP addresses and keystroke patterns, and all of them on Chinese servers where the communist regime can access the data. Even if you warn us, chatbots have skyrocketed in popularity.
The ban means that New York employees cannot download DeepSeek to government-issued devices. It does not apply to their personal devices.
Deepseek could not be immediately contacted for comment.
The startup shows disturbing signs of censorship in line with China's Communist Party's mandate. For example, Chinese leaders Xi Jinping, the Tiananmen Square Massacre, refuse to answer questions about whether Taiwan is a sovereign country.
Similar data security concerns have led state and federal lawmakers to crack down on China-owned Tiktok. This was banned last month after China's parent ordinance failed to sell its shares. President Trump has issued an executive order delaying enforcement of the ban for 75 days.
Tiktok has been banned on government equipment in New York since 2020.
Some US lawmakers are pushing to ban Deepseek from federal devices, Reported by the Wall Street Journal last week. The US Navy has already banned the use of Deepseek.
Despite US restrictions, Deepseek's claims about the development of a super-efficient model helped to trigger a $1 trillion stock market selling.
However, many experts, including Elon Musk and Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, say Deepseek likely has far more tips than it publicly admits for export control.
As the Post reported exclusively, Deepseek hired at least four current employees who previously worked at Microsoft's controversial AI lab in China. It is an entity that US lawmakers have repeatedly criticised as a potential national security threat.
