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The State of New York has followed a move by Texas in banning the Chinese AI assistant DeepSeek from government devices, citing concerns over potential foreign surveillance, data privacy risks, and state-sponsored censorship.
Some shit you should know before you read: Roughly three weeks ago, Chinese AI startup DeepSeek launched its R1 model, a high-performing AI system that has shocked the industry by being developed for just $5.6 million—a fraction of the billions of dollars spent by US companies like OpenAI, Google, and Meta on similar models. Unlike its American counterparts, which rely on massive infrastructure and cutting-edge chips, DeepSeek used only 2,000 Nvidia H800 chips, which are older and less advanced, to train its model efficiently. This breakthrough has raised significant concerns about whether China is closing the AI gap with the US, potentially challenging America’s technological dominance.
What’s going on now: In an announcement, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a ban on the Chinese AI assistant DeepSeek from all state government devices and networks. The directive prohibits state employees from downloading or using DeepSeek on any government-managed technology, aligning with broader efforts to protect cybersecurity and data privacy. Hochul stressed that the ban is necessary to prevent potential exploitation of sensitive information by foreign entities.
New York State Chief Cyber Officer Colin Ahern added, “Safeguarding New Yorker’s critical infrastructure, privacy, freedom from censorship are central pillars of Governor Hochul’s security and resilience agenda. This action today demonstrates we will continue to defend New York from cyber threats.”
New York’s decision follows a similar action taken by Texas, which was the first state to block DeepSeek from government devices over national security concerns. Both states have pointed to DeepSeek’s potential ties to Chinese intelligence laws, which require companies to cooperate with government data requests. Officials fear that allowing the AI app on government networks could expose sensitive information to foreign surveillance.
This all comes as a group of bipartisan lawmakers have introduced legislation to ban DeepSeek from federal government devices, citing national security risks and concerns over data privacy. Congressmen Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Darin LaHood (R-IL) are leading the effort, arguing that the app could be used to collect sensitive user data and potentially share it with the Chinese government.
