US Navy bans staff from using DeepSeek for work-related & personal tasks

The Navy cited 'security and ethical concerns' as its reason for the ban of DeepSeek's use among its members.

Image via DeepSeek
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At least one body of the US government has officially banned the use of Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek among its staff. This week, the US Navy handed down the ban, barring its members and servicemen and women from using the app for personal and work-related tasks, citing “security and ethical concerns” as the reasoning behind the ban.

The US Navy ban of DeepSeek was detailed in an email to staff and members, as reported by CNBC this week. The ban went into effect on Friday, January 24, 2025, and bars US Navy staff and members form using the DeepSeek app “in any capacity” for reasons that included “potential security and ethical concerns associated with the model’s origin and usage.” As a result, the governing members of the Navy warned staff to “refrain from downloading, installing, or using the DeepSeek model in any capacity.”

DeepSeek's app page on the Apple App Store
DeepSeek has been banned from use, download, and installation of the app by service members and staff.
Source: Apple

DeepSeek AI is a China-based company that has made a splash in the AI-hyped tech sector over the last few weeks. That is because it released a chat model, DeepSeek R1, that can compete with most of the work NVIDIA, Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, and more have been doing over the last few years as AI has skyrocketed as a trend. The sudden popularity of DeepSeek left AI investors in other markets shaken. There’s also the major concern among US government officials that as a company based in China, DeepSeek AI may represent a notable danger to various sectors of the United States, hence the ban from the Navy.

It remains to be seen if other government bodies will follow, but DeepSeek has most certainly taken AI and the markets around it by storm. As we continue to follow this story, stay tuned to the DeepSeek topic for further updates.

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on BlueSky @JohnnyChugs.

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