NASA becomes latest U.S. agency to block DeepSeek over security and privacy risks

CNBC

NASA is the latest federal agency to ban use of China’s DeepSeek AI technology by employees and block access to the platform from its systems, CNBC has learned.

In a memo on Friday to all NASA personnel from the agency’s chief artificial intelligence officer, employees were informed that DeepSeek’s servers “operate outside of the United States, raising national security and privacy concerns.”

“DeepSeek and its products and services are not authorized for use with NASA’s data and information or on government-issued devices and networks,” the memo said.

NASA didn’t immediately provide a comment. DeepSeek’s free-to-download AI assistant is now available in the U.S., rivaling products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Google Gemini. DeepSeek’s app rocketed to the top of Apple’s App Store at the start of the week, unseating OpenAI’s ChatGPT from the lead spot. DeepSeek was still No. 1 on Friday.