The success of DeepSeek’s launch of a low-cost bot has sparked growing calling to outlaw Chinese AI tools in the United States, sprinkling the British IT community. This year, Virginia and New York announced their intention to outlaw DeepSeek on government-issued products. On January 31st, Texas made the identical announcement.  ,
” China’s DeepSeek AI poses a menace to the security and safety of the members of the Commonwealth of Virginia”, said Glenn Youngkin, governor of Virginia. The Virginia state required express people who downloaded the DeepSeek software to eradicate it from government products by Wednesday.” We may continue to take steps to safeguard our functions and information from the Chinese Communist Party.”  ,
According to some media outlets, DeepSeek could be subject to a perfect US restrictions, which would make it illegal for anyone in the US to access it, similar to what TikTok did on January 19th.
President Donald Trump, but, has indicated he sees DeepSeek’s development as more of an asset than a national security threat to the US.  ,
” Over the past few weeks, I’ve been reading about China and some of the Chinese businesses, one of which is developing a much less expensive and faster AI approach, which is great because you don’t have to spend as much money,” he said on January 28. ” I view that as a good, as an asset”.
The launch of DeepSeek AI from a Chinese firm may serve as a wake-up contact for our industries because we need to get relentlessly focused on advancing because we have the best scientists in the world,” he continued.  ,
” It’s a technology that’s happening. I think we’re going to gain. If it’s appropriate, what’s going on now is that the Artificial we’re talking about will be a bit less expensive than individuals initially thought. That’s a good thing. I view that as a very good growth, never a bad enhancement”, Trump told a reporter on February 8.  ,
Trump stated in October that he preferred the US Congress to determine whether to implement TikTok in 2020.  ,
” I said to Congress: It’s your determination. I’m not going to take any chords”, Trump explained. They made the decision not to make it. I did not worry if they made it or not that, to me, it was a flip of a coin. You have some actual First Amendment dilemmas”.
” Honestly, I think all a danger”, he said. ” There’s nothing that’s not a threat, but sometimes you have to fight through these threats”. He continued, noting that Google had treated him badly, but that he would never attempt to sever it or split it.  ,
US lawmakers ‘ costs
On February 6, two US Representatives, Democrat Josh Gottheimer and Republican Darin LaHood, introduced the nonpartisan” No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act“, which may prevent federal employees from using DeepSeek on government-issued products.  ,
The Chinese Communist Party has made it abundantly clear that it will use any means at its leisure to denigrate our national security, spread dangerous deception, and gather information about Americans, according to Gottheimer. We now have incredibly unsettling proof that they are using DeepSeek to spoof the sensitive information of US residents.
Wiz Research reported last month that it had found a DeepSeek database with interact history, underground keys, server details, and other sensitive data.  ,
The Republican Senator Josh Hawley introduced a costs titled” Decoupling America’s Artificial Intelligence Capabilities from China Act of 2025,” which would outlaw the import and export of relational AI systems or intellectual property. He claimed a$ 1 million fine or a sentence to 20 years in prison should be the maximum punishment.  ,
Some internet sources, however, claimed that Hawley wants anyone who downloaded DeepSeek to spend 20 years in prison.  ,
Foreign students and employees should be aware of the potential legal hazard when using DeepSeek in the US, according to some Chinese critics.  ,
‘ Information distillation’ ,
It is no solution that DeepSeek used the “knowledge evaporation” process to teach its AI design.
In this method, DeepSeek can be understood as a student who keeps asking questions to a competent teacher, for instance ChatGPT, and uses the solutions to fine-tune its logic. At some point, DeepSeek will be as bright as ChatGPT. This procedure uses significantly less processing power than ChatGPT was trained by OpenAI.  ,
The concept of using “knowledge distillation” was first suggested by Geoffrey Hinton, a British-Canadian computer scientist and cognitive psychologist known as the” Godfather of AI”, in a 2015 academic paper,” Distilling the Knowledge in a Neural Network” , ,
He compared AI training to a caterpillar ( an original AI model ) consuming a lot of leaves ( data ) before turning into a pupa. However, it may be a butterfly ( a boiled version ) to sail away and partner.  ,
According to some researchers, ChatGPT 4o is now a modified version of ChatGPT-4 Turbo, its predecessor. They claimed that DeepSeek’s surge could encourage competition and make OpenAI more capable of providing better services to users.
Antitrust conversations
In an essay published by the New York Times on February 4, Lina Khan, former head of the US Federal Trade Commission, claims that the US may continue to support the growth of the AI market.  ,  ,
” DeepSeek is the canary in the coal me,” the saying goes. It’s warning us that when there isn’t enough opposition, our technology sector grows susceptible to its Chinese competitors, threatening US political strength in the 21st century”, Khan says.  ,
US tech giants may refresh their requests for the government to give them specific protections that would stifle markets and enshrine their authority in the upcoming weeks and months,” she says. ” Politicians and officials should be watchful.”
” The best way for the US to be away globally is by promoting opposition at home,” she continues.
However, IT blog Noah Smith says Khan misunderstood the US AI business, which is “incredibly economical”. He says that while emphasizing competitors, Khan simply wants the US to avoid using export controls to curb China’s Artificial business. He claims that Khan is making the case that the US may not impose trade controls to impede China’s AI industry.
He claims that Khan refutes herself by arguing both that she and Khan are.
- Chinese AI firms with weaker rivals won’t be able to compete with US counterparts to increase, and that’s because of that.
- this will ultimately result to China’s success in the world Artificial competition.
Howard Lutnick, the candidate for US Commerce Secretary, criticized DeepSeek for stealing US systems in a reading on January 29 without raising any issues with national security.
He promised to coordinate and give the Bureau of Industry and Security ( BIS )’s export controls and tariffs authority to stop China from using American tools to compete with the US.  ,
After all, according to some observers, merely export controls and tariffs, no hypothetical discussions about national protection risks, can encourage foreign US companies and businesses to invest in the US.
The Asia Times has Yong Jian as a contribution. He is a Chinese blogger who specializes in Chinese technologies, economy and politics.  ,
Read: To later, US Commerce candidate calls DeepSeek a systems’ thief’