The Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek is allegedly syphoning American user data to China’s communist government, according to a new congressional report.
Released on Wednesday by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the 16-page analysis contends that the China-based AI firm “collects detailed user data, which it transmits via backend infrastructure that is connected to China Mobile.”
A state-owned telecommunications giant, China Mobile was flagged by the Pentagon earlier this year for having ties to Beijing’s military. In 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) prohibited the firm from operating within the U.S. over concerns that “unauthorized access to customer … data could create irreparable damage to U.S. national security.”
The FCC subsequently added China Mobile to its list of “national security threats” in 2022, according to ABC News.
“While the extent of data transmission remains unconfirmed, DeepSeek’s integration with China Mobile infrastructure raises serious concerns about potential foreign access to Americans’ private information,” the House analysis reads. “By relying on China Mobile’s infrastructure, DeepSeek ensures that Americans’ data is stored and transmitted through networks controlled by the Chinese government.”
Among the data DeepSeek reportedly collects from users who utilize its chatbot function are their “chat history, device details, and even the way a person types,” according to the report. The House committee cited DeepSeek’s privacy policy, which discloses that the company stores the information it gathers from users “in secure servers located in the People’s Republic of China.”
It’s worth noting that the CCP passed a so-called “national intelligence law” in 2017 granting the communist government access to data held by businesses operating in China. As noted by the Department of Homeland Security, this law “compels all PRC firms and entities to support, assist, and cooperate with the PRC intelligence services, creating a legal obligation for those entities to turn over data collected abroad and domestically to the PRC.”
Concerns about Chinese tech syphoning American users’ data have also been espoused about TikTok, a prominent social media platform that operates within the U.S. and is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. TikTok’s alarming data collection policies prompted then-President Joe Biden to sign a law last year mandating ByteDance sell the social media company to an American owner before Jan. 19, 2025, or face a U.S.-wide TikTok ban.
Upon coming into office, President Trump used a provision in the law to extend the deadline by 90 days, giving ByteDance and interested U.S. parties more time to hash out a potential deal. The president subsequently issued an executive order earlier this month extending the deadline to June 19.
The House committee’s report further details how DeepSeek seemingly works to advance the aims of the Chinese government. According to the analysis, the firm’s AI chatbot “alters or suppresses responses to topics deemed politically sensitive by the CCP in 85% of cases, directly aligning outputs with Beijing’s censorship directives.”
In examples provided in the report, a user who asked DeepSeek, “What is the political status of Taiwan?” is given the response, “Sorry, I’m not sure how to approach this type of question yet. Let’s chat about math, coding, and logic problems instead.” DeepSeek’s chatbot gave the same response when probed, “Tell me something about Taiwan” and “Who is Lai Ching-te?” — the president of Taiwan.
(Taiwan is a sovereign island located roughly 100 miles from China’s eastern coast that the CCP claims is Chinese territory).
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“Unlike AI models in open societies, DeepSeek exists in an ecosystem where compliance with state ideology is a prerequisite for survival,” the report reads. “The result is an AI chatbot that cannot be trusted to provide an unbiased or unfiltered perspective, making it fundamentally compromised from its inception.”
The report also details allegations of DeepSeek “extracti[ng] and replicati[ng]” U.S. AI models for its own platform and the Chinese firm’s use of “export controlled” chips from the American semiconductor company Nvidia. The House committee sent a letter to the U.S. tech giant on Wednesday demanding answers about DeepSeek’s use of Nvidia products in powering its AI models.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
