The U.S. Congress has prohibited employees from using DeepSeek, according to Axios.

The U.S. Congress has issued a warning to employees against using the newly created Chinese chatbot DeepSeek. The reason for this is that malicious actors are exploiting it to infect devices.

This was reported by RBK-Ukraine citing Axios.

Specifically, the portal received a notice from the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives (CAO). It stated the following.

"Currently, DeepSeek is under review by the CAO and... does not have permission for official use by the House of Representatives," the statement reads.

The notice warns that "malicious actors are already using DeepSeek to deploy malware and infect devices."

"To mitigate these risks, the House of Representatives has implemented security measures to restrict DeepSeek's functionality on all devices issued by the House," the CAO added.

Additionally, the message indicated that employees are prohibited from installing DeepSeek on any official phones, computers, or tablets.

Axios noted that this is not the first instance where the CAO has restricted the use of an AI product by employees, although other companies that have been attacked are based in the U.S.

For example, in 2023, the agency imposed restrictions on the use of ChatGPT, informing departments that they could only use the paid version of the OpenAI chatbot for specific tasks. In April 2024, the CAO informed employees that they could not use Microsoft Copilot.

It is worth mentioning that recently, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that he does not see a threat from the recent success of the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. He believes it represents a true innovation.