Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into DeepSeek, the upstart Chinese artificial intelligence company that rocked Wall Street last month, alleging it violates his state’s data privacy laws.
The Republican AG said DeepSeek’s “blatant allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)” is extremely concerning, as it “appears to be no more than a proxy for the CCP to undermine American AI dominance and steal the data of our citizens.”
The controversial company is subject to Chinese laws, which mandate cooperation with government intelligence agencies and potentially compromise users’ private data, Paxton said, adding that he has notified DeepSeek that it is in violation of the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act.
He also ordered Google and Apple to hand over their in-house analysis of DeepSeek’s AI chatbot app and all documentation the company was required to submit before appearing on their respective app stores.
“I’m announcing a thorough investigation and calling on Google and Apple to cooperate immediately by providing all relevant documents related to the DeepSeek app,” Paxton told The Post.
“The United States and Texas will continue to be at the forefront of global AI innovation, and any CCP-aligned company that tries to undermine that dominance by violating the rights of Texans and illegally undercutting American technology companies will face the full force of the law.”
Last month, Paxton banned the AI assistant on all devices in his office due to national security concerns and the risks it would promote CCP propaganda and censorship.
This week New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin followed suit and banned DeepSeek on all devices and networks in their states.
However, President Trump has been more sanguine about DeepSeek’s emergence, saying it should push Silicon Valley to innovate.
“The release of DeepSeek AI from a Chinese company should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win because we have the greatest scientists in the world,” Trump said last month when the low-cost chatbot launched.
Paxton has pursued aggressive litigation in the past, including investigating tech companies over privacy and safety concerns and suing pharmaceutical giants Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson over potential deceptive trade practices in their marketing of the COVID-19 vaccine.
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