Using DeepSeek in the US may result in $1 million fine and jail time under proposed bill

A new bill proposes extreme measures for using Chinese AI software by individuals and businesses.

The Chinese AI app DeepSeek became popular soon after the startup released its latest R1 model, raising security concerns worldwide.

Countries are banning DeepSeek on governmental devices, while a US senator is proposing jail time and eye-watering fines for using AI-related Chinese software and hardware.

The bill, introduced by Republican senator Josh Hawley, aims to prohibit United States citizens from advancing AI capabilities within China.

The legislation, among other things, states that “users in the US may not intentionally conduct, attempt or conspire to conduct, or aid and abet in conducting research or development of AI.”

Violation of the legislation could result in a fine of up to $1 million and 20 years of imprisonment for individuals. Meanwhile, businesses could be fined up to $100 million.

The bill doesn’t explicitly mention DeepSeek or any other Chinese companies. However, it is likely a response to the rapid popularity of the Chinese app.

Last week, DeepSeek’s app became the number one downloaded app on the App Store, surpassing ChatGPT.

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Many countries are raising concerns about the dangers of using DeepSeek. South Korea's defense ministry has blocked access to DeepSeek on ministry computers used for military purposes. Australia has recently banned using the app on Government devices, saying that it was an “unacceptable risk.”

Authorities in Ireland and France have started their own investigations into DeepSeek, which stores user data on servers in China.

Australia's decision to ban DeepSeek follows similar action in Italy, while Taiwan also banned government departments from using the app earlier this week.

The app has also raised concerns in the cybersecurity community. One concern is that DeepSeek is trained on open-source data from Wikipedia and Github, which could potentially allow malicious content to be injected into Wikipedia.