Microsoft Bans DeepSeek App for Employees, Citing Security and Propaganda Concerns

Microsoft employees are banned from using DeepSeek app, president says | TechCrunch

Microsoft employees aren't allowed to use DeepSeek due to data security and propaganda concerns, Microsoft vice chairman and president Brad Smith said in a Senate hearing today. "At Microsoft we don't allow our employees to use the DeepSeek app," Smith said, referring to DeepSeek's application service (which is available on both desktop and mobile.) Smith said Microsoft hasn't put DeepSeek in its app store over those concerns, either. Although lots of organizations and even countries have imposed restrictions on DeepSeek, this is the first time Microsoft has gone public about such a ban. Smith said the restriction stems from the risk that data will be stored in China and that DeepSeek's answers could be influenced by "Chinese propaganda." DeepSeek's privacy policy states it stores user data on Chinese servers. Such data is subject to Chinese law, which mandates cooperation with the country's intelligence agencies. DeepSeek also heavily censors topics considered sensitive by the Chinese government. Despite Smith's critical comments about DeepSeek, Microsoft offered up DeepSeek's R1 model on its Azure cloud service shortly after it went viral earlier this year. But that's a bit different from offering DeepSeek's chatbot app itself. Since DeepSeek is open source, anybody can download the model, store it on their own servers and offer it to their clients without sending the data back to China. That, however, doesn't remove other risks like the model spreading propaganda or generating insecure code. During the Senate hearing, Smith said that Microsoft had managed to go inside DeepSeek's AI model and "change" it to remove "harmful side effects." Microsoft did not elaborate on exactly what it did to DeepSeek's model, referring TechCrunch to Smith's remarks. In its initial launch of DeepSeek on Azure, Microsoft wrote that DeepSeek underwent "rigorous red teaming and safety evaluations" before it was put on Azure. While we can't help pointing out that DeepSeek's app is also a direct competitor to Microsoft's own Copilot internet search chat app, Microsoft doesn't ban all such chat competitors from its Windows app store. Perplexity is available in the Windows app store, for instance. Although any apps by Microsoft's archrival Google (including the Chrome browser and Google's chatbot Gemini) did not surface in our webstore search.

Microsoft doesn't allow its employees to use China's Deepseek-President

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab does not allow its employees to use an artificial intelligence app developed by Chinese AI startup Deepseek, due to concerns related to data vulnerability as well as Chinese propaganda, President Brad Smith said on Thursday. Speaking at a Senate hearing on winning the AI race with China, Smith said the company also doesn't carry Deepseek's application in its app store, flagging risks posed by "data going back to China and the app creating the kinds of content that people would say are associated with Chinese propaganda." Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence

Microsoft employees join the list of those banned from using DeepSeek

In a Senate hearing addressing US AI capabilities, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft Brad Smith has revealed the company's employees are not permitted to use the DeepSeek app. Citing data security and propaganda concerns, Smith noted Microsoft also does not offer DeepSeek in its app store, arguing there is a risk user data will be stored in China and that DeepSeek's responses to user enquiries could be influenced by "Chinese propaganda." Multiple government agencies have also banned the controversial AI model, including the US Department of Commerce and US Navy - and the "No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act" could soon see this expanded even further. AI models such as DeepSeek and ChatGPT have been criticized for being a bit of a privacy nightmare, especially given the information users feed into the chatbots - and the personal data that the models collect and store. The US Congress specifically described DeepSeek as a "profound threat" to national security and privacy, collecting vast amounts of data including "chat history, device details, and even the way a person types." "Closer inspection reveals that the app siphons data back to the People's Republic of China (PRC), creates security vulnerabilities for its users, and relies on a model that covertly censors and manipulates information pursuant to Chinese law," the Congress report outlined. DeepSeek's privacy policy confirms it does store data on Chinese servers, and the data is subject to Chinese law, which does ensure co-operation with Chinese intelligence agencies. The model also heavily censors topics sensitive to Chinese security. The chatbot also suffered a significant data breach, which exposed over a million records and fed into the concerns about AI models and the management and protection of user information.

Brad Smith testifies Microsoft blocked DeepSeek app for employees

Microsoft employees are banned from using the DeepSeek app due to concerns over data security and potential exposure to Chinese propaganda, according to Microsoft Vice Chairman and President Brad Smith, who testified before a Senate hearing on May 8, 2025. Smith stated that Microsoft does not allow its employees to use DeepSeek's application service, available on both desktop and mobile platforms, citing risks associated with data storage in China and the potential for DeepSeek's responses to be influenced by "Chinese propaganda." DeepSeek's privacy policy confirms that user data is stored on Chinese servers, subject to Chinese law, which requires cooperation with the country's intelligence agencies. The company also heavily censors topics deemed sensitive by the Chinese government. Microsoft has not listed DeepSeek in its app store, a decision rooted in the same concerns. This move marks one of the first public acknowledgments by Microsoft of restrictions on the app, although numerous organizations and countries have imposed similar bans. Despite these concerns, Microsoft offered DeepSeek's R1 model on its Azure cloud service earlier this year, shortly after it gained popularity. This offering differs from providing the DeepSeek chatbot app directly, as the open-source nature of DeepSeek allows users to download the model, host it on their own servers, and provide it to clients without sending data back to China. However, this approach does not mitigate all risks, such as the potential for the model to spread propaganda or generate insecure code. Smith revealed during the Senate hearing that Microsoft had internally modified DeepSeek's AI model to remove "harmful side effects," though details of these modifications were not disclosed. Microsoft initially stated that DeepSeek underwent "rigorous red teaming and safety evaluations" before being made available on Azure. The decision to ban DeepSeek's app, but not all competitor chat apps, raises questions about Microsoft's app store policies, particularly given that Perplexity is available in the Windows app store. Notably, apps from Microsoft's competitor Google, including the Chrome browser and Google's chatbot Gemini, were not found in the Windows app store during a search.

Microsoft Doesn't Allow Its Employees to Use China's Deepseek-President

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Microsoft does not allow its employees to use an artificial intelligence app developed by Chinese AI startup Deepseek, due to concerns related to data vulnerability as well as Chinese propaganda, President Brad Smith said on Thursday. Speaking at a Senate hearing on winning the AI race with China, Smith said the company also doesn't carry Deepseek's application in its app store, flagging risks posed by "data going back to China and the app creating the kinds of content that people would say are associated with Chinese propaganda." (Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Microsoft Employees Are Banned From Using This Popular AI App

DeepSeek's AI app quickly became popular in the U.S. after its release in January, rising to the top of U.S. Apple and Google app stores and capturing the attention of Silicon Valley. DeepSeek differentiated itself from its competitors, like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, by being a fraction of the cost to develop and presenting a "reasoning" AI chatbot that showed the work behind its answers. But employees of at least one major company aren't allowed to use it. Microsoft Vice Chairman and President Brad Smith said at a Senate hearing on Thursday that Microsoft employees are prohibited from interacting with the DeepSeek AI chatbot over data security concerns and worries that "Chinese propaganda" could infiltrate the app's answers. Related: 'Pride of His Hometown': Who Is DeepSeek Founder Liang Wenfeng? What to Know About the 40-Year-Old Billionaire "At Microsoft, we don't allow our employees to use the DeepSeek app," Smith said, per TechCrunch, explaining that one of his main concerns was "data going back to China." Smith said that Microsoft has also blocked DeepSeek on its app store, the Microsoft Store. DeepSeek is not listed on the store at the time of writing. This marks the first time a Microsoft executive has spoken publicly about a DeepSeek ban at the company. Microsoft joins other organizations, like NASA and the U.S. Navy, in blocking access to the app for staff. One of Smith's concerns was data privacy. DeepSeek's privacy policy states that the company stores user data in China, where local laws require Chinese companies to share data with government officials upon request. This leads to concerns that the Chinese government could tap into user data for its own aims. Still, it doesn't mean Microsoft isn't interested in Deepseek's technology. Since DeepSeek's AI model is open source, anyone can download the model and store it on their own internal servers, without user data getting back to China. Microsoft offered the AI model behind DeepSeek through its Azure cloud service in January, days after the DeepSeek app went viral. Smith mentioned during the Senate hearing that Microsoft downloaded the model and changed the code. "It was possible for us to go in it, analyze it, and change the code in the model... to remove the harmful side effects," Smith stated. Related: OpenAI Says AI Industry Disruptor DeepSeek May Have Copied Its Work as Rivals Race to Catch Up Smith was speaking before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation at a hearing titled "Winning the AI Race: Strengthening U.S. Capabilities in Computing and Innovation."