WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US lawmakers on Thursday brought forth a bill to ban Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) program DeepSeek from being used on government devices over concerns about user data security.

Representative Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, introduced the bill along with Darin LaHood, an Illinois Republican, citing an “alarming threat to US national security” and warning of “direct ties” between DeepSeek and the Chinese government.

The bill comes after a Wednesday report by Feroot Security, a US cybersecurity firm, found that the AI model contains hidden code capable of transmitting user data to China Mobile, a state-owned telecoms firm.

Chinese startup DeekSeek shocked the global AI industry last month with the launch of its low-cost, high quality chatbot, which shook the lead the US and other countries had in the ongoing 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, calling DeepSeek a “CCP-affiliated company,” said that “under no circumstances” can it be allowed to “obtain sensitive government or personal data.”

The legislation in the House of Representatives comes as South Korean ministries and police said they were blocking DeepSeek’s access to their computers, after the company did not respond to a data watchdog 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 practice.