**State Government Prohibits Use on Issued Devices to “Block Malicious Espionage”**
**U.S. Experts: “Chinese Government Data Collection…Potential Implantation of Malicious Software on Devices”**
(Los Angeles = Yonhap News) Correspondent Lim Mi-na = As the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek gains traction in the U.S., causing a surge in app downloads among individual users, Texas has taken measures to ban the use of DeepSeek on state-owned devices. This move reflects a growing trend in the U.S. to control Chinese AI apps.
According to the Texas state government on the 2nd (local time), Republican Governor Greg Abbott recently ordered the prohibition of DeepSeek, as well as Xiaohongshu (known as Rednote in English) and Lemon8, TikTok’s sister app by ByteDance, on devices issued by the state.
Governor Abbott stated, “Texas will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to penetrate our state’s critical infrastructure through data-collecting AI and social media apps,” emphasizing that “state agencies and employees handling critical infrastructure, intellectual property, and personal info must be protected from the malicious espionage activities of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Earlier, U.S. economic media outlet CNBC reported on the 28th of last month that the U.S. Navy issued a ban on the use of the DeepSeek AI app by all naval personnel, citing “potential security and ethical concerns related to the origin and use of the model.”
Outside the U.S., Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs has banned DeepSeek for public sector employees due to security risks, and Italy’s Data Protection Authority has blocked its use over transparency issues regarding personal data usage.
While there is no federal government-level ban in the U.S. yet, experts are calling for national-level controls.
DeWardric McNeal, a senior policy analyst at the consulting firm Longview Global, told CNBC that the amount of data and information that Chinese malicious forces can collect from DeepSeek is 20 times greater than that collected through Google searches.
McNeal highlighted the clear risks, such as the potential exposure of personal financial or healthcare information, and reported that renowned cybersecurity firms have already pointed out vulnerabilities when using DeepSeek.
Indeed, DeepSeek disclosed that it suffered a large-scale cyberattack on the 27th of last month.
However, Chinese state media reported that the cyberattack targeting DeepSeek originated in the U.S.
Matt Perault, Director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies, stated, “The privacy policy of DeepSeek is worthless,” explaining that all information entered by users on this app, which is subject to Chinese law, can be tracked.
He also cautioned that malware could be implanted on users’ devices through the DeepSeek app, causing significant cybersecurity issues, noting, “Theoretically, just a single app update could enable malware infiltration.”
He added, “The government can ban DeepSeek under laws similar to those used to ban TikTok.”