Security Bite: DeepSeek trending among US firms as low-cost AI alternative, what could go wrong?

A new report from financial services firm Ramp reveals that DeepSeek, the Chinese AI competitor to OpenAI and Anthropic, is gaining traction among U.S. businesses as a low-cost alternative, raising significant data security and compliance concerns.

DeepSeek’s Resurgence in Enterprise Adoption

According to Ramp’s June 2026 analysis of May spending data, DeepSeek ranked first among SaaS vendors for breakout growth relative to company size across its customer base. This marks a sharp reversal from earlier this year, when adoption had fallen to 0.1% after an initial spike to 0.3% in January.

Ramp economist Ara Kharazian, who tracks enterprise software spending, noted he did not expect American firms to engage with DeepSeek at all. The resurgence suggests cost pressures are driving businesses to overlook serious security trade-offs.

Data Sovereignty and Legal Exposure

Crucially, Ramp’s data indicates companies are using DeepSeek’s hosted service, not running its open-weight models on private infrastructure. This means all prompts, documents, source code, and customer records are transmitted directly to DeepSeek’s servers.

DeepSeek’s own terms of service state that user data is collected, processed, and stored in the People’s Republic of China. PRC law compels companies to cooperate with state intelligence requests without the warrant or judicial oversight standard in U.S. jurisdictions. Any American firm routing internal data through DeepSeek should treat that information as accessible by a foreign government.

Implications for Enterprise Risk Management

While DeepSeek’s per-token pricing may be attractive, the real cost lies in data exposure. OpenAI and Anthropic operate under U.S. infrastructure, contracts, and legal frameworks that enterprises can enforce. DeepSeek offers no equivalent recourse.

Ramp did not disclose which specific companies are adopting the platform, but its customer base spans from single-person operations to Fortune 100 enterprises. The risk is likely concentrated among smaller firms with less mature security postures.

This is the first credible report of DeepSeek gaining meaningful enterprise traction in the U.S. The trend bears close monitoring as organizations weigh short-term cost savings against long-term data sovereignty and regulatory liabilities.

— Originally reported by 9to5Mac. Adapted and republished with editorial context for MacThreat.