U.S. lawmakers are taking decisive action to prevent Chinese artificial intelligence from infiltrating government systems with a new bipartisan bill introduced Wednesday in both houses of Congress.
The 'No Adversarial AI Act,' spearheaded by Representative John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) in the House, would prohibit all U.S. executive agencies from using AI models developed in China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea. The legislation specifically targets DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company that gained prominence in January when it claimed to have developed an AI model rivaling those from U.S. firms like OpenAI at a fraction of the cost.
Under the proposed law, the Federal Acquisition Security Council would create and maintain a list of AI models from adversarial nations, updating it every 180 days. Federal agencies would be barred from purchasing or using these technologies without receiving an exemption from either Congress or the Office of Management and Budget. The bill also includes a provision allowing technologies to be removed from the restricted list if they can prove they are not controlled or influenced by a foreign adversary.
"The U.S. must draw a hard line: hostile AI systems have no business operating inside our government," Moolenaar said in a statement. "This legislation creates a permanent firewall to keep adversary AI out of our most sensitive networks - where the cost of compromise is simply too high."
The bill comes amid growing security concerns about DeepSeek, which some U.S. companies and government agencies have already banned. Security researchers have linked DeepSeek to China's military and intelligence operations, with its privacy policy explicitly stating that U.S. user data is stored in China.
The legislation is co-sponsored by Representatives Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and Darin LaHood (R-IL) in the House, and Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Gary Peters (D-MI) in the Senate, reflecting broad bipartisan concern over the national security implications of foreign AI technologies in government systems.