Texas AG opens investigation of DeepSeek, testing the power of state law over AI
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, above, announced an investigation into DeepSeek for potentially violating state privacy laws. Texas lawmakers are currently considering a more comprehensive bill to establish safeguards around AI.
Feb. 19, 2025 — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last week announced an investigation into DeepSeek—the Chinese artificial intelligence (“AI”) company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (“CCP”)—regarding the privacy practices of its AI platform. Paxton notified DeepSeek that its platform violates the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act.
The Texas Attorney General’s action represents a bold move to invoke state law against a global AI corporation, a legal dynamic that is expected to become more common in the coming months.
state laws filling the federal absence on ai
In the absence of any Congressional action on AI security, safety, and transparency risks, state legislatures have begun to enact their own laws to protect their citizens. Last year Colorado adopted the comprehensive Colorado AI Act; Tennessee passed the Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act, protecting musicians against unauthorized impersonation of their voices by AI; and California adopted measures requiring disclosure and training data transparency in AI systems.
Texas currently has no state laws directly establishing artificial intelligence safeguards, which is why Attorney General Paxton is attempting to use the state’s existing privacy measures to protect Texans against an AI system.
The state legislature, which meets in Austin every two years, is currently considering the comprehensive Texas Responsible AI Governance Act (TRAIGA), a Republican-led measure that would make the Lone Star State a national leader in AI governance. The Transparency Coalition has a clear overview of TRAIGA here.
Texas ag notifies google, apple
As part of the investigation, the Attorney General sent third-party Civil Investigative Demands (“CIDs”) to Google and Apple requesting their analysis of the DeepSeek application, as well as the documentation DeepSeek was required to submit to them before they made DeepSeek’s app available to consumers.
“DeepSeek appears to be no more than a proxy for the CCP to undermine American AI dominance and steal the data of our citizens,” said Paxton. “That’s why I’m announcing a thorough investigation and calling on Google and Apple to cooperate immediately by providing all relevant documents related to the DeepSeek app. The United States and Texas will continue to be at the forefront of global AI innovation, and any CCP-aligned company that tries to undermine that dominance by violating the rights of Texans and illegally undercutting American technology companies will face the full force of the law.”
On January 28, Attorney General Paxton directed that DeepSeek’s platform be banned on all Office of the Attorney General devices over concerns about security and the company’s blatant allegiance to the CCP, including its willingness to censor any information critical of the Chinese government.
follows lawsuit last month against tiktok
Last week’s move against DeepSeek follows Paxton’s action in early January against TikTok. On Jan. 9, the Attorney General’s office sued the social media platform for deceptively marketing its app as safe for minors, despite regularly showing inappropriate and explicit material to children.
“TikTok actively worked to deceive parents and lure children onto their app despite the presence of an overwhelming amount of profane and illicit material,” said Paxton. “Companies may not jeopardize the health and wellbeing of Texas children by blatantly lying about the products they provide.”
Attorney General Paxton previously sued TikTok for violating the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment (“SCOPE”) Act by unlawfully operating its platform in a manner that puts the online safety and privacy of Texas children at risk.