U.S. Senator Ted Budd (R-N.C.) has led a group of Senate colleagues in calling for an investigation into DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence and its alleged ties to the Chinese military and intelligence agencies. The senators addressed their concerns in a letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, urging the Department of Commerce to examine claims that DeepSeek has supported the People’s Republic of China’s military and intelligence operations.
The letter highlights worries about security vulnerabilities and risks to American personal and enterprise data through the use of DeepSeek AI models. The senators referenced recent reports indicating that U.S. officials believe DeepSeek “has willingly provided and will likely continue to provide support to China’s military and intelligence operations.” They further noted allegations that DeepSeek is sharing user information with Beijing’s surveillance apparatus.
“These allegations are deeply troubling. DeepSeek’s R1’s model release in late January demonstrated the aptitude of People’s Republic of China (PRC) national AI talent and the progress their home-grown models have made relative to leading U.S. products. The Trump Administration has rightly emphasized winning the AI competition against the PRC, and the development of AI use case applications for businesses and consumers is an important facet of that competition. Ensuring that such applications are secure and not prone to leaking secure information and malign exploitation is paramount […]” the senators wrote.
They also drew parallels with previous actions taken by Congress, noting, “The U.S. government has previously recognized the threats posed by the wide-spread adoption of certain PRC technologies. For example, Congress funded a multi-billion program to remove Huawei telecommunications hardware from American networks after it was determined that such hardware could contain backdoors for PRC espionage.”
The letter asks the Commerce Department to assess whether Chinese open-source models like DeepSeek’s R1 pose any backdoor or vulnerability risks, brief Congress on findings, clarify plans for cybersecurity at the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI), and review how AI models might be bypassing export controls on semiconductors.
Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Husted (R-Ohio), John Curtis (R-Utah), and Todd Young (R-Ind.) joined Sen. Budd in signing the letter.
A link to read the full text of this letter was provided in the announcement.
