Microsoft bans DeepSeek for employees over data security and propaganda concerns, Vice Chairman Brad Smith said in a Senate hearing
Smith, in reference to the DeepSeek application service (which is accessible on both desktop and mobile platforms), stated that Microsoft prohibits its employees from utilizing the app.
Smith also stated that Microsoft has not included DeepSeek in its app store due to these concerns.
This is the first time that Microsoft has publicly disclosed a ban on DeepSeek, despite the fact that numerous organizations and countries have implemented restrictions on the service.
Smith stated that the restriction is due to the possibility that data will be stored in China and that DeepSeek’s responses could be influenced by “Chinese propaganda.”
According to DeepSeek’s privacy policy, user data is stored on servers located in China. Chinese law necessitates collaboration with the nation’s intelligence agencies in the handling of such information.
Topics that are deemed sensitive by the Chinese government are also severely censored by DeepSeek.
Microsoft made DeepSeek’s R1 model available on its Azure cloud service shortly after it went viral earlier this year, despite Smith’s critical comments.
However, this differs from providing DeepSeek’s chatbot application. DeepSeek is open source, which means that anyone can obtain the model, store it on their own servers, and offer it to their clients without sending the data back to China.
However, this does not mitigate additional hazards, such as the model’s dissemination of propaganda or the generation of insecure code.
Smith stated during the Senate hearing that Microsoft had been able to “modify” DeepSeek’s AI model to eliminate “harmful side effects.”
Microsoft did not provide a detailed explanation of the modifications it made to DeepSeek’s model, instead directing TechCrunch to Smith’s comments.
Microsoft stated that DeepSeek underwent “rigorous red teaming and safety evaluations” prior to its initial Azure launch.
Although we cannot help but observe that DeepSeek’s application is a direct competitor to Microsoft’s Copilot internet search chat app, it is important to note that Microsoft does not prohibit all chat competitors from being featured in its Windows app store.
For example, Perplexity is accessible through the Windows app store. Despite the fact that our webstore search did not yield any applications from Microsoft’s archrival Google, such as the Chrome browser and Google’s automaton, Gemini.
