The new bill in Congress classifies downloading DeepSeek as a crime, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

BlockBeats News, February 5th, Recently, the U.S. Congress proposed the "2025 U.S.-China Artificial Intelligence Decoupling Act," which prohibits Americans from assisting China in advancing AI and from downloading or using DeepSeek. Violation of this act will be classified as a crime, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.

The act specifies that if American individuals or companies collaborate on AI with Chinese universities or laboratories, they may be in violation of the law. Violating companies may face fines of up to $100 million. Furthermore, non-U.S. citizens involved in technology transfer may face deportation.

The act was introduced by Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who previously served as Missouri's Attorney General and was involved in investigations into major tech companies' alleged election interference, including investigations into Google and Facebook. The U.S. had previously banned the use of the DeepSeek application by government officials, including the Department of Defense, Congress, and other key executive branch agencies.