(WHTM)-- Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity has banned the use of Deepseek AI from all Treasury-issued devices due to security concerns.
Deepseek AI, a Chinese Artificial intelligence platform, has made headlines recently after the company debuted a free chatbot on iOS and Andriod. Garrity says she decided to ban the platform out of concerns for privacy and security.
“Our team at Treasury deals with billions of dollars that belong to the residents of the Commonwealth, so keeping our computer network secure is a top priority. There are growing fears that DeepSeek is directly linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), potentially allowing the Chinese government to obtain sensitive government or personal data. Banning DeepSeek is necessary to ensure the safety of Pennsylvanians’ hard-earned tax dollars and other important, sensitive information entrusted to Treasury.”
The Treasury is set to ban Deepseek on all Treasury-issued devices, including laptops, cell phones, and other devices with the ability to connect to the internet, according to Garrity.
The Treasury's firewall will also be updated to block access to the Deepseek app and website.
Garrity previously banned TikTok on all Treasury devices in 2022.
“Treasury’s cybersecurity systems monitor around the clock to protect Pennsylvania taxpayers, and the IT team mitigates them 24/7. For example, in 2024, Treasury Firewall blocked more than 200 million requests. Building and updating our systems to best protect our data is crucial to our operations and to the security of our state and our country.”