Summary:
The launch of Chinese AI application DeepSeek in the U.S. has raised national security concerns among officials, lawmakers, and cybersecurity experts. The app quickly became the most downloaded on Apple’s store, disrupting Wall Street and causing a record 17% drop in Nvidia’s stock. The White House announced an investigation into the potential risks, with some lawmakers calling for stricter export controls to prevent China from leveraging U.S. technology.
Beyond economic impact, experts warn DeepSeek may pose significant data security risks, as Chinese law allows government access to company-held data. Unlike TikTok, which stores U.S. data on Oracle servers, DeepSeek operates directly from China, collecting personal user information. The app also exhibits censorship, blocking content on politically sensitive topics like Tiananmen Square. Some analysts argue that, as an open-source model, DeepSeek may not be as concerning as TikTok, but critics worry its widespread adoption could advance China’s influence through curated information control.
Stupid users send private keys and other secrets to their AIs all the time. This is a big fucking threat to US global imperialism.
The US trusts OpenAI (even if they shouldn’t) to not send hackers after US companies. They definitely don’t trust Chinese companies to have the same restraints.
Unfortunately that’s just a danger on the internet. Stupid users are gonna get scammed whether it’s a stock trading AI that empties your bank account when you link it or a Nigerian Prince who just needs $5000 so he can unlock his fortune and repay you $100,000.
Even then, what national security upending information does the average citizen have stored on their phone that they’re just whimsically uploading anywhere that’ll take a PDF? Like I said, I understand restrictions on devices used by government officials for official purposes, but to ban it unilaterally for civilian use as well seems excessive.