AUSTIN, Texas — Governor Greg Abbott of Texas has taken the unprecedented step of prohibiting the use of the Chinese artificial intelligence platform DeepSeek on devices issued by the government, making Texas the first state to implement such restrictions on the increasingly popular chatbot. This ban comes as DeepSeek has garnered significant attention and usage among American users in recent weeks, causing a stir within the AI industry.
In addition to targeting DeepSeek, Abbott has also banned the use of Chinese-owned social media applications Xiaohongshu, often referred to as RedNote, and Lemon8 on all state-issued devices. The governor has expressed his determination to protect the state from potential infiltrations by foreign entities, emphasizing that, “Texas will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate our state’s critical infrastructure through data-harvesting AI and social media apps.” He reiterated the state’s commitment to safeguarding against adversarial foreign influences.
DeepSeek, a burgeoning AI startup, has emerged as a formidable contender against well-established competitors such as OpenAI, showcasing its ability to disrupt existing market dynamics. Meanwhile, American users have increasingly turned to Xiaohongshu especially after the temporary ban on TikTok, as it has gained traction in the U.S. This app, well-known in China and other regions like Malaysia and Taiwan, boasts around 300 million active users and has gained popularity among those seeking alternatives to TikTok during the controversy surrounding its usage.
Lemon8, another application linked to ByteDance—the same parent company behind TikTok—has also seen a rise in user engagement coinciding with the timeline of the initial TikTok ban, which took effect on January 19. As the situation evolves, various states, along with the federal government, have enacted similar bans against TikTok for government-related devices. The platform’s future remains uncertain following an executive order from former President Trump that provided ByteDance additional time to divest from TikTok’s operations within the United States.
Efforts to reach ByteDance for comments on these developments have not yet elicited a response.
