In a statement during a Senate hearing today, Microsoft Vice President and President Brad Smith revealed that Microsoft employees are prohibited from using the DeepSeek app. Smith explained that the decision was made due to concerns regarding data security and propaganda.
He added that Microsoft has not included DeepSeek in its app store for the same reasons.
This marks the first time Microsoft has publicly discussed such a ban, joining various organizations and countries that have restricted the use of DeepSeek. Smith emphasized that the ban stems from the risks associated with data being stored in China and the potential for DeepSeek’s responses to be influenced by “Chinese propaganda.”
DeepSeek’s privacy policy states that user data is stored on Chinese servers and is subject to Chinese laws, which mandate cooperation with the country's intelligence agencies. Additionally, DeepSeek heavily censors topics considered sensitive by the Chinese government.
Despite these concerns, Microsoft offered DeepSeek’s R1 model on its Azure cloud service, but not the app itself. This allows users to download the model and store it on their own servers, avoiding the need to send data back to China. However, this does not eliminate risks such as the potential spread of propaganda or the generation of insecure code.
During the Senate hearing, Smith mentioned that Microsoft had examined DeepSeek’s AI model and “removed harmful side effects.” However, Microsoft did not provide specific details on the changes made.
Before releasing DeepSeek on Azure, Microsoft stated that the model underwent “rigorous red teaming and safety evaluations.”
An interesting note is that Microsoft’s own chatbot competitors, such as Google’s Gemini and Chrome browser, are not available in the Windows app store. However, Perplexity, another chatbot app, is present, highlighting Microsoft’s approach to handling its competitors in this space.
