US lawmakers are working hard to see that Chinese artificial intelligence program, DeepSeek is banned on government devices.

This is as lawmakers on Thursday brought forth a bill seeking to ban the app, citing user data security.

Representative Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, introduced the bill along with Darin LaHood, an Illinois Republican.

They cited an “alarming threat to US national security” and warned of “direct ties” between DeepSeek and the Chinese government.

On Wednesday, a report by US cybersecurity firm Feroot Security claimed that the AI model contains hidden code capable of transmitting user data to China Mobile, a state-owned telecom firm.

DeepSeek stunned the global AI industry with the launch of its low-cost, high-quality chatbot in January.

The launch disrupted the lead the US and other countries had in the race to develop the technology.

“The Chinese Communist Party has made it abundantly clear that it will exploit any tool at its disposal to undermine our national security, spew harmful disinformation, and collect data on Americans,” Gottheimer said in a statement.

LaHood called DeepSeek a “CCP-affiliated company” and stated that “under no circumstances” can it be allowed to “obtain sensitive government or personal data.”

Already, South Korean ministries and police have announced that they are blocking DeepSeek’s access to their computers after the company failed to respond to a data watchdog’s request about how it manages user information.

Australia has also banned DeepSeek from all government devices on the advice of security agencies, while France and Italy have raised concerns about DeepSeek’s data practices.