Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, and Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, sent letters to Pam Bondi, U.S. Attorney General, Andrew Ferguson, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, and Howard Lutnick, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, urging the administration to investigate and address potential national security risks posed by BrainCo, a neural technology company allegedly funded by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). KEY EXCERPTS: “The Committee on Energy and Commerce has long warned about the national and economic security risks of CCP-aligned entities accessing Americans’ personal and proprietary information. The use of American data by CCP-aligned entities, such as BrainCo, to develop and deploy AI underscores our concerns. […] The Committee urges swift action to investigate and address the potential national and economic security risks posed by BrainCo’s operations in the United States and its access to Americans’ personal information.” BACKGROUND: According to recent reporting , the company was started by MIT and Harvard scientists but has “been quietly backed by the Chinese government-linked entities for nearly a decade.”  BrainCo products reportedly harvest personalized brainwave data from users.  BrainCo is reportedly working with sanctioned PRC military contractors.  BrainCo products reportedly have been used by Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin, number two world tennis player, Jannik Sinner, U.S. Olympic teams, and many others.  Along with DeepSeek , BrainCo is considered one of China’s “Six Little Dragons” — meaning one of the CCP’s most promising young tech startups. The PRC’s National Intelligence Law of 2017 requires PRC individuals and entities to support PRC intelligence services. CLICK HERE to read exclusive coverage of the letter. CLICK HERE to read the Hunterbrook Media story on their investigation into BrainCo. CLICK HERE to listen to the corresponding Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast episode. CLICK HERE to read the letters to Attorney General Bondi, Chairman Ferguson, and Secretary Lutnick. ###

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, and Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, issued the following statement following President Trump’s announcement of a deal to separate TikTok from control of entities with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP): “We appreciate the extensive work done by President Trump and Vice President Vance to make progress toward a qualified divestiture of TikTok from ByteDance. As the details are finalized, we must ensure this deal protects American users from the influence and surveillance of CCP-aligned groups,” said Chairmen Guthrie, Bilirakis, and Hudson. “Limiting the influence and involvement of China remains a vital national security interest, and we look forward to seeing a deal that secures America’s interests on the global stage.” ###

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – In case you missed it, Fox Business recently published an article featuring a letter sent to the Secretary of Commerce from Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-09), Chairman of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee, and Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Chairman of the Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee, urging the Department of Commerce to investigate Spain's recent wiretap deal with the Chinese-owned Huwai and warning of the national security threats posed by the deal. In Case You Missed It: “ Republican leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are calling on the Department of Commerce to investigate Spain’s controversial decision to contract with Huawei — a company with bridging links to the Chinese Communist Party — to store judicial wiretap data.  “ They warn the agreement poses a serious threat to U.S. digital trade and national security. “ In a letter this week to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Subcommittee Chairs Reps. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., warned that Spain’s contracts with Huawei to manage and store sensitive data related to the country’s wiretapping services were ‘ deeply troubling. ’ “ They noted that ‘ Huawei and other Chinese firms maintain documented CCP ties, posing profound risks to national and economic security. ’ “ The lawmakers further warned that the decision ‘ underscores a regrettable trend in the European Union (EU): governments tacitly embrace Chinese technology and hold American digital trade exports to double standards, ’ resulting in ‘ significant uncertainty for American companies in every sector that engages in transatlantic commerce. ’   “ They urged Commerce to ‘ investigate the Spanish government’s decision, and similar actions by EU governments, that negatively impact U.S. digital trade, data security, and telecommunications interests, as well as the interests of American workers. ’ “ Last month, Spain’s Ministry of the Interior quietly awarded a €12.3 million contract to Huawei to manage and store judicially authorized wiretaps using its OceanStor6800 V5 enterprise-grade servers. “ The move prompted top lawmakers on the House and Senate Intelligence Committees to call on Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to review intelligence sharing with Spain to ensure that Beijing was not intercepting secrets. “ House Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford called Spain’s deal ‘ almost unimaginable ’ in a statement last month.  “ The European Commission issued a formal warning, stating that ‘ Huawei represents materially higher risks ’ and urged member states to exclude high-risk vendors from critical infrastructure.  “ Sources within the Spanish National Police and the Civil Guard told Spanish news outlet The Objective they were uneasy with the partnership.  “ We are being asked to secure sensitive operations using systems that are not trusted by most of our allies, ’ one law enforcement source reportedly said.  “ The People’s Republic of China (PRC) National Intelligence Law of 2017 requires PRC individuals and entities to support PRC intelligence services. “ Chinese hackers breached U.S. court wiretap systems last year, according to a Wall Street Journal report. “ According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, China ‘ remains the most active and persistent cyber threat to U.S. government, private-sector, and critical infrastructure networks ’ and has targeted communications infrastructure specifically, recently through the hacking operation Salt Typhoon. ”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, along with 10 members of the subcommittee, sent a letter to DeepSeek regarding their data practices and close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). “DeepSeek admits to sending Americans’ personal information to servers in China, where it is undoubtedly accessed by officials connected to the Chinese Communist Party. We are concerned that this relationship with agents having close connections to our primary adversary jeopardizes our data and our national security,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Bilirakis. “To ensure Americans and their businesses are secure from foreign interference, we are launching this investigation into DeepSeek and the risks it poses to our nation.” KEY LETTER EXCERPT: “By its own admission, the company’s mobile application—available on app stores in the U.S.—is sending Americans’ personal information to servers in the People’s Republic of China. According to media reports, the company is also sharing users’ personal information with other CCP-linked entities, including ByteDance Ltd. Researchers, meanwhile, have identified serious weaknesses in DeepSeek’s purported security controls and model safeguards. To address these risks, a growing number of states, including New York, Texas, and Virginia have banned DeepSeek on government devices, with states attorneys-general calling for a broader ban.” Background: On January 20, 2025, DeepSeek launched its open-source AI chatbot. On February 18, 2025, DeepSeek was accused of sharing user data with ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. On March 6, 2025, 21 state attorneys-general urged Congressional leadership to prohibit government devices from “downloading and using the Chinese Communist Party’s DeepSeek AI Software.” On April 16, 2025, the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party published a report on DeepSeek funneling American data to the CCP and manipulating results to align with CCP propaganda. The Committee members requested answers to the following questions: Provide a detailed description of the types and sources of data used to train your AI models, including any U.S. personal or proprietary information. Confirm whether information entered into your AI applications or chatbots by American consumers or businesses is used to train your AI models. If yes, identify where this information is stored and accessed from, and whether it is shared with any state entity of the People’s Republic of China or other Chinese companies. Describe the technical, administrative, and physical controls used to secure personal and proprietary information associated with your AI offerings, as well as your process for evaluating the security of third-party service providers. Provide a detailed description of any U.S. technology products or services used to develop, integrate, or bring to market your AI offerings. This includes the use of open and closed source AI models developed by U.S. companies and the unauthorized “distillation” of American models. Provide a detailed description of how your AI models are developed and trained, including any steps taken to influence system outputs for alignment with Chinese Communist Party ideology or political goals. Provide a detailed description of any direct or indirect subsidies you receive from the People’s Republic of China, or its political subdivisions, related to AI development. Confirm whether your company has received a request from the People’s Republic of China, or its political subdivisions, for data related to your company’s AI offerings. This includes personal and proprietary data used to train or finetune an AI model and data ingested by your AI services. CLICK HERE to read the full letter. CLICK HERE to read the story from Fox News. ###

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, and Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, sent a letter to 23andMe regarding the handling of Americans' sensitive data following the company's decision to file for bankruptcy. KEY EXCERPT: “According to 23andMe’s privacy statement, in a bankruptcy, customers’ ‘Personal Information may be accessed, sold or transferred as part of that transaction and this Privacy Statement will apply to [customer] Personal Information as transferred to the new entity.’ Additionally, a judge recently ruled 23andMe has the right to sell the sensitive medical and genetic information of its 15 million customers, which is considered to be the company’s most valuable asset. With the lack of a federal comprehensive data privacy and security law, we write to express our great concern about the safety of Americans’ most sensitive personal information.” Background: On March 23, 2025, 23andMe initiated Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, which could have ramifications for the highly sensitive information of millions of Americans. While Americans’ personal health information is protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), these protections only apply if the information is collected by a HIPAA covered entity. Generally, direct-to-consumer companies, like 23andMe, are not covered by HIPAA. Customers have reported issues accessing and deleting their data from their 23andMe accounts. The Chairmen have requested answers to the following questions: If 23andMe were to sell the personal information of its customers either as a standalone asset or as part of a broader sale of the company, what post-sale data privacy and security protections would be in place for its customers’ personal information? Please describe how the representations made in 23andMe’s privacy statement will continue to apply—and be enforced—if the personal information of 23andMe’s customers is sold to a third party. Please include in this response information about what, if anything, would hold a third-party buyer to 23andMe’s privacy statement or prevent it from subsequently using, transferring, or otherwise selling, such information in the future. Does 23andMe plan to change its privacy statement at any time prior to selling any customers’ personal information? If so, please explain the change 23andMe plans to implement and when those changes will go into effect. Does 23andMe intend to vet prospective buyers to which it may sell its customers’ personal information? If so, please detail the vetting process and whether it will include the prospective buyer’s history of implementing data security protections and compliance with sectoral, state, or any other data privacy and security laws. If not, please explain why. Please detail the categories of customer information 23andMe has, and of that what 23andMe is considering selling. Has 23andMe notified its customers of the company’s bankruptcy announcement? If so, please attach the customer notification. If not, please explain why. Has 23andMe provided its customers with a guide for how to delete, or request to delete any information currently in 23andMe’s possession? If so, please provide a copy of that guide and specify when it was provided to customers. If not, please explain why, and explain whether 23andMe will contact each of its customers and provide an opportunity to delete their personal information prior to a potential sale of the company or personal information maintained by the company. Please detail the number of requests 23andMe received from its customers to delete their personal information between when 23andMe filed for bankruptcy and the date of the response to this letter. Of those requests, please provide a breakdown of how many requests were made by customers through their 23andMe online accounts and how many were made via customer service calls because customers were unable to successfully delete their information through their online accounts. Of those requests, please detail the number of fulfilled requests. Will 23andMe offer for sale any information in which a customer has requested the deletion of such information? If so, does 23andMe’s privacy policy consider selling information a legitimate purpose for retaining information past a customer's request to delete their information? Will 23andMe deidentify its customers’ personal information prior to selling it or the company? If so, please detail which information will be deidentified. If not, please explain why the company is electing not to deidentify information. CLICK HERE to read the full letter. CLICK HERE to read the story from CNBC. ###

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) today sent letters to five independent federal agencies urging the Biden-Harris administration appointees to abandon partisan efforts and instead focus remaining efforts on bipartisan, consensus items.   The letters state, “The results of the 2024 presidential election are now apparent and leadership of the [agency] will soon change. As a traditional part of the peaceful transfer of power, the [agency] should immediately stop work on any partisan or controversial item under consideration, consistent with applicable law and regulation.”    Click below to read each agency’s letter:   Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Federal Communications Commission (FCC)   Federal Trade Commission (FTC)   Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)   Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Note: In the letter, Chair Rodgers urges NRC to continue timely implementation of the ADVANCE Act.