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.

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