Banned AI Apps: Is DeepSeek Banned?

The release of DeepSeek in January 2025 shocked the tech world, sending global markets spiraling and triggering a $1 trillion sell-off. On top of that, the mobile app rose to the top of Apple’s App Store in the first few days.

Because of the app’s rapid success, connections to China, and user data concerns, many states and countries have either banned it or explored the possibility of doing so.

In April 2025, President Trump’s administration announced it would consider banning access for Americans to all DeepSeek AI models. While no official announcement has been made, a potential ban by mid-2025 seems more likely each day.

Some US states and government entities have taken matters into their own hands already. New York, Texas, and Virginia were the first states to ban the app in February 2025. Similarly, the US Navy banned all members from using DeepSeek in late January.

"Banned AI" search interest has risen 1,900% with a recent spike after the DeepSeek launch.

Below, we’ll explore more about what DeepSeek is, what a DeepSeek ban might look like, and where the app is banned.

What is DeepSeek?

DeepSeek is a Chinese AI company that develops low-cost large language models.

The company is currently based in Hangzhou, China, and all operations are funded by High-Flyer, a quantitative hedge fund.

DeepSeek has openly stated it's built as an open-source alternative to GPT-4 to compete with some of the top AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. The main difference is how much cheaper DeepSeek is to use, and the amount spent to train the models.

For example, DeepSeek Chat costs approximately $1.10 per 1M output tokens. (Output tokens are the units of text generated by language models.)

In comparison, OpenAI o3 costs $40 per 1M output tokens. It’s over 35 times cheaper to use DeepSeek than it is to use OpenAI.

(You can read our full DeepSeek vs ChatGPT comparison here.)

In just a few months, it’s estimated that DeepSeek supports 47 million daily active users.

Semrush data also shows the company received 456.3 million monthly visits from 67 million unique visitors over the past month.

Will Trump Ban DeepSeek in the United States?

The Trump administration has recently increased scrutiny on DeepSeek, raising attention toward a potential nationwide ban on the app.

The administration is also weighing penalties to block DeepSeek from accessing U.S. technology, such as Nvidia’s AI chips, and may bar Americans from using its services, including app store removals and website blocks, similar to the TikTok ban.

These discussions include restricting U.S. cloud providers like AWS from hosting DeepSeek’s models.

On April 16, 2020, a bipartisan House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party report was released that labeled DeepSeek as a “national security threat.”

The report alleges the AI company funnels U.S. user data to Beijing and uses illegally obtained Nvidia chips (up to 60,000, including 20,000 restricted H800s). It also claims DeepSeek manipulates content to align with Chinese state narratives.

After the initial release, President Trump called DeepSeek’s advanced model and low costs a “wake-up call” for U.S. tech but has since shifted focus toward a full ban.

DeepSeek’s open-source models complicate a full ban because they are freely available on platforms like GitHub. While it’s possible to remove the DeepSeek app from app stores, stopping users from accessing the models through third-party sites would be difficult.

A ban could potentially mirror the state-level restrictions that are already in place in Texas, New York, and others, which prohibit DeepSeek on government devices. A federal “No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act,” introduced in March 2025, has bipartisan support and could expand to private use.

There are risks to a DeepSeek ban, such as disrupting U.S. businesses using its affordable AI, escalating U.S.-China tech tensions, and pushing China to develop domestic chips. On the contrary, it could push for local innovation and force U.S. AI firms like OpenAI to find new ways to bring costs down.

While no executive order has been signed, the administration has taken actions like restricting Nvidia’s H20 chip sales to China on April 15, 2025. Whether Trump opts for a full ban or targeted restrictions, balancing security concerns and the impact it could have economically will be key considerations.

U.S. States That Have Banned DeepSeek

DeepSeek was on its way to becoming one of the most popular AI apps before U.S. states and other countries started implementing bans and restrictions.

As of April 2025, several U.S. states have banned DeepSeek on government devices and networks due to national security and data privacy concerns.

These bans primarily target state employees and contractors. However, DeepSeek is not completely banned. Most citizens can access DeepSeek's website and mobile app.

On January 31, 2025, Texas became the first state to move against DeepSeek when Governor Greg Abbott issued an order to ban the use of DeepSeek on state government-issued devices. The ban also applied to other Chinese apps, including:

• RedNote
• Webull
• Tiger Brokers
• Moomoo
• Lemon8

He warned that these Chinese apps could compromise Texas’s energy grid and ports because of CCP data harvesting. It wasn't long before other states followed along with their own bans.

Following the Texas ban, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a DeepSeek ban on government devices on February 11, 2025. The ban was driven by fears of foreign surveillance and data privacy concerns.

New York has acted early on similar issues in the past, previously banning TikTok on government devices in August 2020.

Additional states have followed both Texas and New York with similar restrictions. Below is a list of states that have already publicly announced bans and the date of the ban:

State	Date Banned
Texas	January 31, 2025
New York	February 10, 2025
Virginia	February 11, 2025
Iowa	February 19, 2025
Florida	February 2025
Georgia	February 2025
South Dakota	March 4, 2025
North Carolina	March 5, 2025
Nebraska	March 5, 2025
Tennessee	March 6, 2025
Arkansas	March 6, 2025
North Dakota	March 10, 2025
Oklahoma	March 21, 2025
Alabama	March 26, 2025
Kansas	April 8, 2025

Countries That Have Banned DeepSeek

The United States is not the only country cracking down on DeepSeek access. There are plenty of other nations concerned about China and the way this AI app collects user data.

These bans and restrictions primarily focus on government devices and networks, but there is a possibility that these nations will explore a complete ban if the United States is successful in doing so.

Below are notable countries that have banned or restricted DeepSeek usage.

Country	Date Banned
Italy	January 30, 2025
Taiwan	February 3, 2025
Australia	February 4, 2025
India	February 6, 2025
Canada	February 7, 2025
South Korea	February 17, 2025

Italy

Italy’s Data Protection Authority banned DeepSeek from app stores in January 2025. They quickly launched a General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) investigation.

The GDPR is a law that protects EU citizens' personal data.

Right away, the Data Protection Authority claimed to find inadequate user data protections and saw it as a threat to their citizens. Before banning the app, Italy allowed DeepSeek to respond and explain how it stores user data.

DeepSeek believed they did not fall under the jurisdiction of EU law. Italy disagreed and became the first nation to enforce a complete ban on DeepSeek.

South Korea

South Korea’s defense and trade ministries banned DeepSeek on both government systems and individual user devices after discovering unauthorized data transfers to China Mobile’s CMPassport.com.

While the country has made it clear the ban is not permanent, there are no plans to remove restrictions until DeepSeek changes its user data policies. DeepSeek is no longer available in mobile app stores in South Korea.

Canada

While individual users can still access DeepSeek in Canada, the country’s federal government has banned it from all government mobile devices.

The ban is primarily due to “serious privacy concerns” over improper collection and retention of sensitive user data.

Similarly, Canada banned TikTok from all government devices in 2023.

Taiwan

Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs banned DeepSeek in government agencies, schools, and state enterprises. The country labels the Chinese AI chatbot as a threat to “national information security” because of potential data leaks to China.

Because of Taiwan's conflicts with China, it's more common for the country to act with caution. They've had TikTok banned from government devices since December 2022.

Australia

Australia’s Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, banned DeepSeek on government devices after intelligence agencies flagged its “unacceptable security risk” in February 2025. However, private citizens are free to use DeepSeek on any device.

The Australian government has emphasized that the ban is unrelated to its connection with China, but rather because the app threatens national security.

India

India’s Ministry of Finance banned DeepSeek for government employees due to national security risks and hidden data transfer functions. There are major concerns that DeepSeek’s policies could expose confidential data to Chinese authorities.

Government officials in India have also warned against DeepSeek alternatives like ChatGPT. Government departments restrict the use of the AI app on official devices.

What’s Next for DeepSeek?

DeepSeek users based in the United States may be forced to look for alternatives soon, as President Trump considers banning the platform for good.

If it does pass, other countries are likely to follow, considering many already restrict the chatbot’s use within the government.

It's likely that if a ban does pass, DeepSeek would be pulled from app stores, and access to the website will be completely blocked by mid-2025.

But because of DeepSeek's open-source models, it'll be difficult to restrict access to them on local devices. Whatever does happen will likely impact chipmakers and other AI giants like OpenAI.

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