US Congressman Proposes '20-Year Prison Sentence for DeepSeek Downloaders'
Senator Josh Hawley proposes to regulate Chinese AI, including 20-year prison sentences for users who download apps like DeepSeek.
“Every dollar and gigabyte of data that flows into Chinese AI will ultimately be used against the United States,” Sen. Hawley of Missouri said when he introduced a new bill called the Decoupling of American AI Capabilities from China Act last week. “Ensuring America’s economic superiority means cutting China off from America, stopping the subsidies that help China innovate.”
Hawley said his bill was inspired by DeepSeek, an AI model built at low cost but capable of competing with American rivals. He called DeepSeek "a low-cost data-gathering AI model that has caused international concern and sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling." His goal is to ban the import or export of AI technology to China and prohibit U.S. companies from investing money in Chinese AI development.
According to 404Media, one of the provisions of the bill is that if "a person knowingly commits, knowingly attempts to commit, or aids and abets the commission of an illegal act described, he shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1 million and by imprisonment for not more than 20 years.
Congressman Hawley's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kevin Bankston, senior adviser for AI governance at the Center for American Democracy and Technology, told 404Media that the bill is “a broad attack on the very idea of scientific dialogue and technological exchange with China around AI.”
Some experts are also concerned about Hawley’s proposal. “The bill threatens the development and publication of AI advances in the United States,” said Kit Walsh, director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s AI and Access to Knowledge Legal Project. “The government has previously argued that simply publishing information on the internet is considered an export. Interpreting the law in this way would further entrench the dominance of proprietary AI over open or academic research.”
In a similar move, according to the Washington Post, Mr. Hawley and Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the newly appointed US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, of President Donald Trump's administration, saying that it is necessary to tighten controls on chip exports to China.
“Many administrations have failed to update and enforce export controls in a timely manner. We cannot let that continue,” the letter, obtained by the Washington Post and published on February 3, said.
In the letter, the two called DeepSeek “an example of a failure in export controls,” a loophole in the Biden administration’s export controls that allowed DeepSeek to purchase chips for AI training, largely supplied by Nvidia.
Earlier, in a letter to national security adviser Michael Waltz, John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on China, also called for tighter export controls on China. Meanwhile
, Nvidia, a chip company that is considered to be in big trouble if the US continues to tighten its AI ban on China, expressed concern about the proposals of the US congressman. "Tighter controls will only push the Chinese market into the hands of local technology companies, causing a ripple effect around the world," the company representative said.
Last week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with President Trump. The two reportedly discussed DeepSeek as well as blocking the sale of AI chips to Chinese companies, according to Reuters.
The US has recently taken a series of strong actions against DeepSeek. On January 31, Texas Governor Greg Abbott requested a ban on the app along with Lemon8, Moomoo, RedNote, Tiger Brokers and Webull, requiring state employees and contractors not to download or use it on personal and government devices, becoming the first US state to ban DeepSeek. NASA, the Navy, and the US House of Representatives also banned all employees from using DeepSeek due to national security and privacy concerns.
“Every dollar and gigabyte of data that flows into Chinese AI will ultimately be used against the United States,” Sen. Hawley of Missouri said when he introduced a new bill called the Decoupling of American AI Capabilities from China Act last week. “Ensuring America’s economic superiority means cutting China off from America, stopping the subsidies that help China innovate.”
Hawley said his bill was inspired by DeepSeek, an AI model built at low cost but capable of competing with American rivals. He called DeepSeek "a low-cost data-gathering AI model that has caused international concern and sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling." His goal is to ban the import or export of AI technology to China and prohibit U.S. companies from investing money in Chinese AI development.
According to 404Media, one of the provisions of the bill is that if "a person knowingly commits, knowingly attempts to commit, or aids and abets the commission of an illegal act described, he shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1 million and by imprisonment for not more than 20 years.
Congressman Hawley's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kevin Bankston, senior adviser for AI governance at the Center for American Democracy and Technology, told 404Media that the bill is “a broad attack on the very idea of scientific dialogue and technological exchange with China around AI.”
Some experts are also concerned about Hawley’s proposal. “The bill threatens the development and publication of AI advances in the United States,” said Kit Walsh, director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s AI and Access to Knowledge Legal Project. “The government has previously argued that simply publishing information on the internet is considered an export. Interpreting the law in this way would further entrench the dominance of proprietary AI over open or academic research.”
In a similar move, according to the Washington Post, Mr. Hawley and Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the newly appointed US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, of President Donald Trump's administration, saying that it is necessary to tighten controls on chip exports to China.
“Many administrations have failed to update and enforce export controls in a timely manner. We cannot let that continue,” the letter, obtained by the Washington Post and published on February 3, said.
In the letter, the two called DeepSeek “an example of a failure in export controls,” a loophole in the Biden administration’s export controls that allowed DeepSeek to purchase chips for AI training, largely supplied by Nvidia.
Earlier, in a letter to national security adviser Michael Waltz, John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on China, also called for tighter export controls on China. Meanwhile
, Nvidia, a chip company that is considered to be in big trouble if the US continues to tighten its AI ban on China, expressed concern about the proposals of the US congressman. "Tighter controls will only push the Chinese market into the hands of local technology companies, causing a ripple effect around the world," the company representative said.
Last week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with President Trump. The two reportedly discussed DeepSeek as well as blocking the sale of AI chips to Chinese companies, according to Reuters.
The US has recently taken a series of strong actions against DeepSeek. On January 31, Texas Governor Greg Abbott requested a ban on the app along with Lemon8, Moomoo, RedNote, Tiger Brokers and Webull, requiring state employees and contractors not to download or use it on personal and government devices, becoming the first US state to ban DeepSeek. NASA, the Navy, and the US House of Representatives also banned all employees from using DeepSeek due to national security and privacy concerns.
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