DeepSeek is ‘TikTok on steroids,’ lawmaker says as US ban on government devices looms
As soon as DeepSeek AI became a viral sensation, challenging America's dominance in AI with breakthrough software innovations, I wondered whether a DeepSeek ban was in order. As exciting as the Chinese AI chatbot might be, there are legitimate reasons to worry about one's safety and privacy when using it.
Also, let's not forget that services like ChatGPT, which DeepSeek might have used to develop its models and circumvent the higher costs associated with training an AI model from scratch, are not officially available in China.
I said at the time that DeepSeek might be even worse for consumers than TikTok, as the AI opens the door to a lot of potentially harmful ways of manipulating international users.
Soon after that, the first DeepSeek bans happened. The US Navy advised all personnel not to install the viral AI on their mobile devices. Countries like Italy followed with DeepSeek bans.
A week later, US lawmakers are sounding the alarm on the dangers of DeepSeek, as more information about the way the AI works. Security researchers from NowSecure have discovered that DeepSeek sends data from iPhone and Android devices unencrypted over the internet to ByteDance servers in China. That's the parent company of TikTok.
Separately, security researchers from Feroot Security found that DeepSeek might send user login data to China Mobile, China's largest mobile operator, which is officially banned from conducting business in the US. This prompted a bipartisan initiative to ban the use of DeepSeek on all devices tied to the US government. Other lawmakers called DeepSeek "TikTok on steroids" in recent confirmation hearings to underline the security threat.
The China Mobile code is specifically obfuscated on the web login app for DeepSeek.
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DeepSeek is ‘TikTok on steroids,’ lawmaker says as US ban on government devices looms originally appeared on BGR.com on Fri, 7 Feb 2025 at 15:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.