US and Taiwan ban Chinese AI DeepSeek over security concerns
US government agencies NASA and the Navy banned the Chinese AI application DeepSeek, citing national security and privacy risks from servers operating outside the United States. Taiwan similarly banned government agencies from using the technology. The restrictions followed rapid growth of DeepSeek in US markets and concerns about data security.
What happened
NASA issued a memorandum on 31 January prohibiting employees from using DeepSeek and blocking access to the platform on NASA systems, citing that DeepSeek servers 'operate outside the United States, raising national security and privacy concerns.'
The U.S. Navy sent a notification to members asking them to avoid using DeepSeek 'in any way' due to 'potential security risks and ethical concerns' related to the model's origin and use.
Taiwan banned government agencies from using DeepSeek technology.
Reported impact
DeepSeek became available in the US and rose to the top of Apple's App Store, surpassing ChatGPT at the beginning of the week and maintaining the top position through Friday.
The rise of DeepSeek caused turbulence in US financial markets, particularly affecting shares of semiconductor companies Nvidia and Broadcom.
Governance controls
NASA's Security Operations Center blocked DeepSeek usage on all agency devices and networks beginning 31 January, and employees are not authorized to share or upload NASA data to the platform.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.