Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen banned the use of DeepSeek, a China-based artificial intelligence platform, on all Montana Department of Justice (MTDOJ) devices.
According to the AG’s office, DeepSeek poses serious security risks making information shared by its users available to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In addition to banning the platform on government devices, MTDOJ employees may not use DeepSeek for any governmental purpose.
“As Attorney General my primary responsibility is the safety and security of Montanans. That begins with protecting law enforcement from data breaches and foreign espionage,” Attorney General Knudsen wrote in a letter to MTDOJ employees. “Accordingly, use of DeepSeek on any MTDOJ device, including but not limited to cell phones, laptops, tablets, and desktop computers is prohibited, effective immediately.”
In the letter, Knudsen noted that the program stores data on servers inside the People’s Republic of China, has code hidden in its programming that has the built-in capability to send user data directly to the Chinese government, and users may unknowingly be creating accounts in China, making their identities and online behavior visible to the CCP.
Knudsen also noted in a press release that DeepSeek has already been blocked on government devices in Canada, Australia, South Korea, and Taiwan.
