Texas Governor Greg Abbott made headlines by issuing a ban on Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek, as well as popular Chinese-owned social media apps Xiaohongshu and Lemon8, on all government-issued devices. Abbott cited concerns about data harvesting and infiltration by the Chinese Communist Party as the reason for the ban. DeepSeek, a rising competitor to industry leader OpenAI, has gained popularity among American users in recent weeks. Xiaohongshu, with approximately 300 million active users in China and surrounding countries, saw a surge in American users as a potential alternative to TikTok following its ban. Lemon8, owned by ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, also gained traction in the days leading up to the initial TikTok ban. Texas joins other states and the federal government in banning TikTok on government devices, and President Trump’s executive order has put the app’s future in question. ByteDance did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Abbott’s office declined to provide further details on the ban. The move reflects growing concerns about foreign influence on critical infrastructure and social media platforms in the United States.
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