‘Security paranoia’: China’s military mouthpiece says DeepSeek bans in US benefit no one

US bans on Chinese AI platform DeepSeek were the result of “security paranoia”, the mouthpiece for China’s military said in a commentary published on Monday, urging Washington to stop weaponising national security concerns that “benefit no one, including the US”.

The commentary published in People’s Liberation Army Daily said the popular open-source AI tool had become “the latest enemy of some US politicians”, despite its popularity around the world.

National security had become an “obsession and convenient excuse for some American politicians to use their power to exert pressure on specific countries and industries”, said the commentary, which was published under the PLA Daily opinion desk’s official pseudonym Junzhengping.

US military personnel and government workers are among those who have been instructed not to use the DeepSeek app.

“In recent years, they have become obsessed with wielding the big stick of national security, especially when it comes to China,” the commentary said. “Almost anything with the word China will trigger an overreaction from some American politicians, exaggerating and hyping up numerous so-called threats.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on January 28 that the National Security Council was “looking into” the potential security implications of China’s DeepSeek. The US Navy and space agency Nasa have instructed personnel to avoid downloading or installing the DeepSeek app, citing national security and privacy concerns.

  

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