US Senator Wants Americans Who Use DeepSeek Thrown in Prison

Unsatisfied with looking like fools for banning TikTok, Republican Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley introduced the Decoupling America’s Artificial Intelligence Capabilities From China Act. The act is a whole lot of bullshit words that describe a bill that will ban DeepSeek—the Chinese-developed generative AI software that rivals America’s ChatGPT.

At this rate, let’s just cut to the chase and ban eggrolls and fried rice. Ban noodles, too, while we’re at it. I don’t want any lip from you Italians. You got noodles from the Chinese, all you did was throw some tomatoes and basil on them.

I’m sorry, it’s just that noodles are Chinese and Chinese is evil now. I don’t know. No one has explained it well enough to justify any of this. But we’re all being told to be scared of Chinese stuff now so I guess we have to be. Be terrified, it’s the American way.

Proposed Bill Would Ban Chinese ChatGPT Competitor DeepSeek

Hawley’s legislation specifically targets AI models like DeepSeek and proposes severe penalties for those who knowingly download these Chinese AI models and threatens them with prison sentences of up to 20 years.

The bill also bars companies from researching or collaborating with Chinese firms on AI projects and it disallows investing in Chinese AI development. The bill is, of course, sloppily written, so while it targets primarily businesses and government entities, experts say that the language in it is so broad that it could be applied to pretty much anyone or anything really even vaguely related to Chinese AI algorithms.

It would be in no way surprising if it turns out that using a shopping recommendation algorithm on Temu constitutes collaborating with the Chinese government. All you wanted was a coffee grinder that’ll break in eight days and now you’re in prison for 20 years. Ain’t that a bitch?

Some speculate the bill could stifle AI innovation as it would hamstring AI researchers in the United States by limiting the knowledge that could be shared across borders. After all, the development of AI is not exclusive to a single country or political entity.

It has risen to prominence thanks to international cooperation with a wide variety of teams experimenting on their own and sharing their knowledge with the world. All of this is to say that the bill is quite stupid and is a waste of everyone’s time.