Is This AI App Being Banned In New York State?

It quickly became the #1 app in the Apple App Store in January but New York has already said no to it on some devices.

DeepSeek AI is one of the hottest apps on the market these days. It's intriguing because it's an artificial intelligence app that can not only do many of the same things that ChatGPT can do, but it can do it better and cheaper.

However, if you work in New York and have a government-owned device, you will not be able to download the app onto the device. Governor Kathy Hochul put a stop to the app on phones, laptops, and tablets earlier this week that are owned by New York State.

“Public safety is my top priority and we’re working aggressively to protect New Yorkers from foreign and domestic threats,” Hochul said in a news release.

The problem with the app is that it was created by a small lab that is based in mainland China. Much like the concerns with the social media app TikTok, officials worry that it is safe to use without fear of surveillance from a foreign government. It's one thing to steal data from people, it's another to worry about it being stolen from the government.

New York is not the first state to do this. Texas banned DeepSeek AI at the end of January. Since then, Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced that they are investigating them and notified them of their violation of Texas State Law. Congress has also introduced a bill to ban it on federal government devices.

Have you been using this or another AI App on your phone? What do you think of it and this new ruling? Let us know on our app.