Technology
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Technology
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Lawmakers take aim at DeepSeek
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A bipartisan pair of lawmakers are introducing a measure to ban Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek from government devices, arguing it “compromises American users’ sensitive data.”
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The measure, called “No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act,” will be introduced on Friday by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), who both serve on the House Intelligence Committee.
“The technology race with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not one the United States can afford to lose,” LaHood said in a statement Thursday.
“The national security threat that DeepSeek — a CCP-affiliated company — poses to the United States is alarming. DeepSeek’s generative AI program acquires the data of U.S. users and stores the information for unidentified use by the CCP.”
The lawmakers pointed to a security research study published on Wednesday that found DeepSeek’s website contains computer code with the potential to send user login information to China Mobile.
The Chinese state-owned telecommunications company is prohibited from operating in the United States. The study was reported by The Associated Press on Wednesday.
DeepSeek is based in China, where companies are required to hand over data if requested by the government, further stoking fears over privacy and national security.
The one-year-old startup launched an AI model called R1 last month, which quickly drew comparisons to models offered by OpenAI or Google. The app surged to the top of Apple's App Store shortly after its release and sent U.S. stocks plunging.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we're Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.
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How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited the White House on Thursday to discuss Meta’s role in helping the Trump administration with America’s international tech leadership, the company confirmed. “Mark Zuckerberg was at the White House today to discuss how Meta can help the administration defend and advance American tech leadership abroad,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone wrote Thursday on social platform X. A …
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy exchanged criticisms online Wednesday over the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) working with various federal agencies. In a post on the social platform X, Clinton posted a screenshot of Duffy’s announcement that DOGE officials were going to “plug in” and upgrade the country’s aviation system. “They have no relevant experience. …
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Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) on Thursday knocked President Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk over what he called a new McCarthy Era for government employees. “It really is sort of like the McCarthy Era 2.0 [for a lot of] federal employees and for all of us as well, so, but they’re standing up and they’re being heard, and I think that’s a hopeful sign that … Elon Musk and Donald Trump aren’t gonna, …
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Trump meme coin faces fresh scrutiny
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Welcome to Crypto Corner, a new feature in The Hill's Technology newsletter focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.
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President Trump's meme coin is facing new scrutiny after receiving a less-than-enthusiastic response from the cryptocurrency industry last month.
Progressive consumer rights group Public Citizen is calling on the Office of Government Ethics to open an investigation into whether Trump is violating a federal law barring presidents from solicitng gifts with the token.
The president launched $TRUMP just days before his inauguration. It's considered a meme coin — a cryptocurrency based on an internet trend with no inherent value and prone to high levels of volatility.
Public Citizen pointed to social media posts promoting the token that Trump reshared on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21, after he took office.
"[I]t appears Trump is not soliciting money in exchange for an investment or tangible product (such as a Bible, sports shoes, or a guitar), but soliciting money in exchange for nothing—that is, asking for a gift that will benefit him personally," Public Citizen wrote in its complaint.
ICYMI: Many in the crypto world watched with concern last month as both Trump and his wife Melania Trump launched meme coins, voicing worries that the tokens could cast a negative light on the president's efforts to boost crypto.
Trump has embraced the industry in his first weeks in office, naming David Sacks as artificial intelligence and crytpo czar and tasking him with developing a federal regulatory framework for digital assets.
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News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
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Branch out with other reads on The Hill:
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Senate Democrat: DOGE has ‘burrowed into the private information of every American’
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Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), helmed by billionaire Elon Musk, has “burrowed into the private information of every American,” as the advisory group works to cut federal spending to further President Trump’s agenda. Coons joined CNN on Thursday, where he was asked about Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza and rebuild the region. “Where would the tens of billions …
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Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said there is worry among Americans that Elon Musk is causing a constitutional crisis amid the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) access to several government agencies. “The American people feel very much we’re in a constitutional crisis,” Tlaib said in a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Wednesday. “They cannot understand, you know, this billionaire. …
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Two key stories on The Hill right now:
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President Trump announced plans Thursday to establish a task force and a presidential commission to protect Christians from religious discrimination. … Read more
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Questions are swirling about how much access Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has to Americans’ personal data and sensitive … Read more
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Opinion related to tech submitted to The Hill:
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You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!
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Save story
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