Congress bans Chinese AI tool from all federal computers
H.R. 1121 — No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act · Filed by Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) · 32 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 7, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill prohibits federal executive agencies from using DeepSeek (an AI application made by Chinese company High Flyer) on government devices within 60 days. The Office of Management and Budget must develop removal standards in consultation with cybersecurity and defense officials. The bill includes narrow exceptions for law enforcement, national security, and security researchers who use it, but they must document risk mitigation plans.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a straightforward prohibition on a specific foreign-origin application across federal IT systems, justified on national security and data-protection grounds. It is not a subsidy, deregulation, or private carve-out — it is a technology use restriction.
What the text implies
- The 60-day removal deadline may create operational disruption if federal employees have integrated DeepSeek into workflows; no transition period or alternative tool is mandated.
- The exception for 'security researchers' is undefined — it is unclear which agencies, researchers, or use cases qualify, potentially creating inconsistent enforcement.
- The bill does not address whether federal contractors or grantees using government data are also prohibited, leaving a potential loophole for sensitive information flowing through third parties.
- Defining DeepSeek by parent company (High Flyer) rather than by technical capability may not address successor applications or rebranded services that pose the same data-collection risk.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens benefit from reduced foreign data-collection risk on government networks and stronger cybersecurity posture. However, federal employees lose access to a widely available AI tool for routine work, and the broad prohibition may limit legitimate research and security testing that could improve national defenses.
Who stands to gain
- U.S.-based AI companies (OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Google) that may capture market share from fe
- Cybersecurity firms providing compliance and monitoring services for the removal and enforcement pro
Named in the bill
DeepSeek, High Flyer, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), General Services Administration (GSA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Department of Defense (DoD), Executive agencies (all federal departments and agencies)
Where it stands
32 cosponsors: 18 Democrats, 14 Republicans.
- Feb 7, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 7, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,656 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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