Kansas legislation banning DeepSeek passes to state Senate after swell of support in House
March 11, 2025 | Allison Muzzy
Editor’s note: This article was written for a class at the University of Kansas’ William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications and distributed through the Kansas Press Association.
TOPEKA — A bill seeking to ban DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence chatbot, from state devices has advanced in the Kansas Legislature.
HB 2313 passed the House, 95-27, on March 7, after an amendment made by bill sponsor, Kansas Rep. Nick Hoheisel (R-Wichita). The bill was introduced in the Senate on Monday.
ICYMI: DeepSeek: The Chinese AI app that has the world talking
The amendment narrows the language of the bill by removing the phrase, “All state agencies shall prohibit the installation of any application that allows users to access an artificial intelligence platform of concern on any electronic device that is issued by the state agency,” in the bill text.
“We think that might be a little too broad, that would prohibit us having browsers on our laptops because you access DeepSeek through a browser, so we’re just going to simply strike that language to narrow this bill down a bit,” Hoheisel said during House proceedings.
Before passing, two lawmakers voiced their opposition to the bill.
Wichita Democratic Reps. John Carmichael and Ford Carr expressed concerns about the bill being a symbolic gesture to align with the Trump administration, rather than to address cybersecurity and national security issues.
“When it comes to matters of national security, cyber intelligence, cybersecurity, there are experts in that field,” Carmichael said during House proceedings. “Those experts are at the federal government level, and they can impose various safeguards on a national basis but our amateur attempts to do cyber security, in my judgment, are embarrassing.”
Allison Muzzy is a junior at the University of Kansas studying journalism, political science, public policy and East Asian languages and cultures.
2025 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Minddrive fuels youth development through hands-on STEM
Carlos Alonzo, a 15-year-old engineer at Minddrive, was always good at math. In the seventh grade, Alonzo’s teachers gave him the opportunity to skip ahead and take algebra. Although he enjoyed it and did well in the class, he ran into a problem: His school didn’t offer him an advanced class for eighth grade. That one-year…
Entrepreneur, startup advocate becomes new KC Chamber chair
A prominent Kansas City entrepreneur with some serious startup chops is now serving as the new chair of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. Matt Condon, CEO of Bardavon Health Innovations and ARC Physical Therapy, was unanimously voted to serve at the helm of the chamber’s board of directors as its chairman. Condon, 42,…
Video: Healthy workplace culture begins with intention, communication
Editor’s note: This content was sponsored by Mid-Continent Public Library but independently produced by Startland News. Creating a healthy workplace culture must be done early and with intention, said Adrienne Haynes and Dwayne Lewis. To help startups develop a strategic human resource plan, Haynes, managing partner of SEED Law, and Dwayne Lewis, president of Lewis…
From Google to KC, Beth Ellyn McClendon’s advice to startups: Test everything
Don’t fall in love with an idea, Beth Ellyn McClendon said. “Test everything, especially your assumptions, and allow yourself to be persuaded by data,” said McClendon, a seed investor who formerly worked with Google, Android, YouTube, Cisco and Netscape. “Try to remember — tattoo it on your eyelids if you have to – anecdotes are not…