President Donald Trump on Friday told reporters that China's DeepSeek does not pose a national security threat and the U.S. ultimately could "benefit" from the startup's artificial intelligence innovation.
DeepSeek last month unveiled a new AI chatbot that offered a comparable performance to the world's best software at seemingly a fraction of the cost.
Trump on Friday was asked if DeepSeek posed a threat to national security.
"Trump says 'no' DeepSeek does not pose a national security threat," Christian Datoc of the Washington Examiner posted on X. "It's a technology that's happening… I think we're going to benefit if it's correct… it'll be a lot less expensive."
Upon its debut, DeepSeek's chatbot caused major U.S. technology stocks to lose a colossal $1 trillion market cap on Jan. 27 amid fears of disruption from the advanced AI.
At the time, Trump said the Chinese chatbot was a "wake-up call" for Silicon Valley.
In addition to threatening U.S. dominance in AI, DeepSeek also has raised concerns.
DeepSeek's website has computer code that could send some user login information to a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company that has been barred from operating in the U.S., security researchers say.
A bipartisan duo in the the U.S. House is proposing legislation to ban the DeepSeek AI app from federal devices, similar to the policy already in place for the popular social media platform TikTok.
Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Darin LaHood, R-Ill., on Thursday introduced the "No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act," which would ban federal employees from using the Chinese AI app on government-owned electronics. They cited Beijing's ability to use the app for surveillance and misinformation as reasons to keep it away from federal networks.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.