In a new set of action taken against Chinese AI company which is making headlines for days now, the US Department of Defense has blocked the access to DeepSeek.

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This comes after it was discovered that US Congress employees had connected their work computers to the Chinese servers while using the AI service. 

In a notice obtained by Axios, the Chief Administrative Officer said that DeepSeek is currently under review and unauthorised for official House use. 

Also read: India looking for AI winners tracking Deepseek success

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It further highlighted the risks associated with the Chinese AI bot and cited examples where "threat actors are already exploiting" the chatbot to deliver malicious software and infect devices.

For this, the US Congress immediately implemented security measures to restrict DeepSeek's functionality on all House-issued devices. 

The employees at US Congress are now restricted from installing the app on official phones, computers and tablets. 

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Also read: China's DeepSeek AI sparks national security fears over American user data: Will US ban it?

However, despite the warnings, several staffers reportedly used the service for at least two days. 

The official reason used by the US Congress was "operation reasons", however, the move came after concerns were raised about the potential security risks of using the Chinese AI app. 

According to a Bloomberg report, the personnel began downloading earlier versions of DeepSeek's code to their workstations in the autumn of 2024, without realising that it is connected to Chinese servers. 

According to the privacy policy of DeepSeek, the user data is stored in China and governed by Chinese law, which has been raising issues within the US Congress. 

Also read: OpenAI claims Chinese rival DeepSeek trained AI chatbot using ChatGPT; Microsoft investigates

Navy banned use of DeepSeek

The US Navy on Tuesday issued a ban on the usage of DeepSeek. They issued a warning email to "shipmates" saying DeepSeek’s AI was not to be used “in any capacity” due to “potential security and ethical concerns associated with the model’s origin and usage.”

A spokesperson for the US Navy confirmed the authenticity of the email and said it was in reference to the Department of the Navy’s Chief Information Officer’s generative AI policy.

(With inputs from agencies)