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U.S. Navy Bans Sailors From Using Chinese AI Model Over Security Concerns

Jan 31, 2025 - marineinsight.com
The U.S. Navy has banned its personnel from using the AI model developed by the Chinese company DeepSeek due to security and ethical concerns. An email sent to sailors warned against using DeepSeek’s AI for work or personal activities, citing the Department of the Navy’s generative AI policy. The directive, issued by the Navy’s Operational Command, serves as a precaution against risks associated with AI models developed in China. This follows a September 2023 memo warning against using generative AI without assessing security risks, as AI models can save prompts and potentially expose sensitive information. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has identified China as a significant cyber threat to U.S. networks.

DeepSeek, a startup from Hangzhou, China, launched its AI Assistant app, which quickly became the most downloaded free app on the U.S. Apple App Store. Despite its low development cost, DeepSeek’s AI model performs comparably to more expensive competitors, raising concerns in the U.S. tech industry. The success of DeepSeek’s AI led to a significant drop in shares of AI chipmakers NVIDIA and Broadcom, impacting the Nasdaq. U.S. President Donald Trump described DeepSeek’s rise as a “wake-up call” for American tech companies, prompting the announcement of an initiative called Stargate to invest in AI infrastructure in the U.S. Despite a clarification from the Navy that the email was a general reminder of existing policies, concerns about security risks from Chinese-developed AI technology persist.

Key takeaways:

  • The U.S. Navy has prohibited its personnel from using the AI model developed by the Chinese company DeepSeek due to security and ethical concerns.
  • DeepSeek's AI Assistant app quickly became the most downloaded free app on the U.S. Apple App Store, surpassing OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
  • The success of DeepSeek’s AI led to a significant drop in shares of AI chipmakers NVIDIA and Broadcom, resulting in a combined market loss of $800 billion.
  • U.S. President Donald Trump called DeepSeek’s rise a “wake-up call” for American tech companies and announced an initiative called Stargate to invest in AI infrastructure within the U.S.
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