Texas Governor Bans DeepSeek, Other Chinese-Linked Apps on Government Devices

The ban also includes Lemon8, the social media app owned by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.

The icon for the DeepSeek app on a smartphone screen in Beijing on Jan. 28, 2025. Andy Wong/AP Photo

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Jan. 31 issued a ban on the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) app DeepSeek and five other Chinese-owned social media apps from government-issued devices.

State employees and contractors will not be allowed to download or use the banned apps on both state-owned and personal devices that they use for work, according to the governor’s statement.