The Deep View: DeepSeek unmasked: A ‘weapon’ in China arsenal

Posted on April 22, 2025 by michelleclarke2015
DeepSeek unmasked: A ‘weapon’ in China’s arsenal 
Source: Unsplash
Since its meteoric rise earlier this year, Chinese AI firm DeepSeek has had governments around the world nervous. 
Countries including Taiwan, Australia and Italy moved to ban DeepSeek from government devices shortly after its launch of R1; a number of U.S. states are pursuing, or have already implemented, similar rules. That’s not counting the legislation that was introduced to Congress to, likewise, prohibit DeepSeek from government devices. 
In furtherance of this position, the House Select Committee on China last week published a bipartisan report that, in their words, exposes DeepSeek as a “national security threat to the United States.” 
The details: Beyond claims of “censorship by design,” the report’s real concern deals with issues of surveillance and data privacy. 
The report claims that, through DeepSeek’s app, the company “funnels Americans’ data to the PRC through backend infrastructure connected to a U.S. government-designated Chinese military company.”DeepSeek states in its privacy policy that all the data it collects is stored in servers in China, where, according to the report, it is “subject to the country’s sweeping cybersecurity and intelligence laws, which compel companies to share data with state authorities.”
The report cites a February AP News article that details obfuscatory code in DeepSeek’s website that sends user information to China Mobile, the state-owned telecommunications company that, in 2019, was barred from doing business in the U.S.
“The DeepSeek website and app acts as a direct channel for foreign intelligence gathering on Americans’ private data,” according to the report. “With its direct ties to China’s security and surveillance infrastructure and its unchecked data collection practices, it can function as an open-source intelligence asset feeding American user data into an adversarial system.”
The report’s other concern has to do with the Nvidia chips that DeepSeek obtained despite increasingly strict U.S. export controls; the Committee said it sent the following letter to Nvidia “demanding answers” regarding its Chinese sales. 
“DeepSeek isn’t just another AI app — it’s a weapon in the Chinese Communist Party’s arsenal, designed to spy on Americans, steal our technology, and subvert U.S. law,” Chairman John Moolenaar, R-MI, said in a statement. 
Unknown's avatar

About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a comment