The Volokh Conspiracy

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If Biden Knocked Tiktok, Can Trump Deep-Six DeepSeek?

The government would have a much stronger interest to ban a Chinese AI app that collects proprietary information than to ban a social media app that displays dance videos.

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Long-time readers know I am ambivalent about AI. I refuse to use it, even as I know others think it gives them a competitive advantage. I am confident in my ability to write, research, and ideate better without AI. Maybe I'm wrong, but so be it.

I also reacted with some ambivalence to the launch of DeepSeek, a new Chinese AI App. I have no clue whether it is better or worse than OpenAI. But I do worry about the fact that millions of Americans are installing a Chinese AI app on their phones, and will submit troves of proprietary information about anything on their minds. Remember, every query can be tracked by DeepSeek, and by extension, the PRC. We learned as much from the TikTok litigation. We aren't simply talking about people watching dance videos. People ask their AI apps about everything. And I suspect submitting privileged information to a foreign adversary waives any sort of Attorney-Client privilege. The risk of potential blackmail and other compromise is unlimited.

Moreover, as could be expected, the app is generating Pro-PRC answers. You can call it data manipulation. The New York Times reports: "If you're among the millions of people who have downloaded DeepSeek, the free new chatbot from China powered by artificial intelligence, know this: The answers it gives you will largely reflect the worldview of the Chinese Communist Party."

Whatever interest may have supported the TikTok ban seems even greater for DeepSeek. And while the TikTok creators arguably had a First Amendment right to use the app to make videos, there is not a similar expressive interest here. To be sure, I've long argued that some algorithmic outputs may warrant First Amendment scrutiny. But as we move towards general AI, which has very little intercession of the human mind, the First Amendment rights are harder to justify. (I anticipated this shift in a 2013 article.)

Biden knocked TikTok. Will Trump deep-six DeepSeek?