Proposed bill to make it a crime to download DeepSeek in the US
59 comments
·February 2, 2025noxs
UncleOxidant
Unless they're prepared to build The Great Firewall around America it's kind of cute that they think they can stop us from downloading these models. And of course stupid to want to try to stop us because if there's something to be learned from them they need to be distributed widely so that we can figure out what they've done and where they're headed.
tempestn
If there's a law against downloading or possessing it, and they're serious about enforcing it, they absolutely can stop you. Yes you could still do it, and maybe even avoid detection, but would you, if getting caught meant prison time?
ipython
I think there are reasoned arguments about TikTok, export control, etc. Heck I’m old enough to remember the Clipper chip debate (go google that if you’re <30yo)
But you undercut yourself when you say that we are “more closed” than the ccp. That’s demonstrably false. Just starting with the gfw for one.
bufferoverflow
> Today we are even more closed than CCP
No, we're not. Not even close.
Please stop with the obvious deranged takes.
jimmydoe
There's no way one country continue to be the only super power / innovation center, one way or the other, we will get to the next world order of innovation. and the path to the new order will not be comfortable, denying reality as a self-defense mechanism will be inevitable for a period of time, hopefully not too long.
t-writescode
Wasn't Isolationism the practice that was strongly, negatively spoken about when people were going through middle and high school as "the way to fall behind"? and "what all those people that didn't advance did for centuries and it harmed them"?
choult
The new administration seems hell-bent on repeating history, especially 30s Germany.
Isolationism is the natural outcome of blaming "the other."
llm_trw
It wasn't the current administration that banned sale of advanced AI chips to China.
Dragging us back to the 1930s seems to be a very bipartisan policy.
beej71
While I don't agree with that move, there's a difference between banning exports and banning imports/what US citizens are allowed to download.
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sega_sai
I am wondering, at what point we will start observing economic effects from this kind of governance we are seeing now and in the last couple of weeks. I feel that only the economic crisis/slump may force to change course from the ongoing transformation to totalitarianism.
Unfortunately there is no guarantee that there will be economic effects. For example many companies tried to stay in Russia long after Russia started the war in Ukraine, and many left only after significant pressure.
sflanker
minimaxir
I have several questions on why the PDF is named "C:\Users\ALL\AppData\Local\Temp\ALL25088.loc".
tjalfi
My guess is it was stored in a document management system[0] and then checked out locally to that path.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document_management_system
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lupire
The US Congress uses Windows. The basename is the Bill ID.
Probably downloaded from a server and then printed to PDF.
elmo8888
What's silly about this is, if a company that wants to publicize can meet / beat the US benchmarks, then who knows what some state owned entity that's performing R&D in the background could easily achieve. Any reactions made by the US is a waste of time, just focus on pushing the US technology further and leapfrog.
gtirloni
And the majority voted for this. Unbelievable.
Havoc
Please do. It’s been slow the last couple weeks since it got popular
kylecazar
Does it actually make it a crime to download DeepSeek?
Does downloading and using a model qualify as r&d on behalf of it's creator?
Because that's what this bill seems to be banning.
emeraldd
The actual text of the bill, referenced elsewhere, refers to import or export, which would theoretically make it illegal to download.
UncleOxidant
The relevant text from the bill:
PROHIBITION ON IMPORTATION.—On and after the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the importation into the United States of artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence technology or intellectual property developed or produced in the People’s Republic of China is prohibited
EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK
But if you download a model locally, it doesn't spy for CCP. Only if you use an app and send your query to be executed in China. Lawmakers seem to not understand such simple matters.
UncleOxidant
> Lawmakers seem to not understand such simple matters.
That's an understatement. There's only one person in congress that I trust to even kind of understand these issues and that's Senator Ron Wyden.
mianos
Ban on AI Technology Trade
U.S. individuals and companies cannot import AI technology or intellectual property from China.
drewcoo
Like the Crypto Wars but in reverse? Where can I get the t-shirt?
65
Expected. OpenAI needs to manufacture a monopoly somehow!
ydlr
There is no text of the bill, but based on its title, this could outlaw publishing any public AI research.
verdverm
The end of Arxiv... what fools and children these people are trying to outlaw this. It will hurt the US more
Kadin
The bill doesn't do that. There's no need to invent problems that don't exist; we have enough as it is.
febin
The bill only restricts AI technology transfers to China, not the publication of public AI research.
UncleOxidant
And transfers from China as well. The relevant section:
PROHIBITION ON IMPORTATION.—On and after the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the importation into the United States of artificial intelligence or generative artificial intelligence technology or intellectual property developed or produced in the People’s Republic of China is prohibited
pbhjpbhj
And the Trump administration is canny, they know Chinese LLM researchers have no way to read documents published in English. /s
unsnap_biceps
Link to the content is in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42904980
t-writescode
I have ... concerns about how this information was found. Does anyone know the path to walk on the individual's website that gets you to the Word Press page?
unsnap_biceps
I took a quick spin through the site and didn't find it. Perhaps it was posted on some social media site.
Thinking from a different perspective, if the Chinese government has banned import of NVIDIA GPU, or downloading U.S. made llm because of so called national security reasons, DeepSeek certainly won't make such progress.
Today we are even more closed than CCP, what a joke. These elites'/attorney politicians just can't stop their arrogant attitude towards a non-western country's achievement. This is just going to destroy the industry at U.S.
We have seen examples of EV and Drones already.