State CIO says DeepSeek AI and other vendors placed on covered-vendor list; limited law-enforcement exceptions allowed

Summary

State officials told the joint legislative committee that Oregon has added AI framework DeepSeek and other firms to a covered-vendor list created under a 2023 law, and that the state has enacted administrative rules to block those products on state networks while allowing narrow exceptions for law-enforcement investigations.

State Chief Information Officer Terrence Woods and State Chief Information Security Officer Ben Goreski told the Joint Legislative Committee on Information Management and Technology on March 14 that Oregon is enforcing a covered-vendor list established under 2023 legislation and has recently blocked an AI framework called DeepSeek on state devices.

The committee heard that the covered-vendor framework stems from a 2023 legislative direction and related administrative rules that allow the state to designate vendors or products as national-security threats and to block their use on state networks. "We did have an initial list of covered vendors, which we published," Woods said. "As we know names change, companies change. So you want to have the flexibility to add to that list as appropriate."

The nut graf: State information-technology leaders said the covered-vendor process gives agencies a mechanism to quickly block…

State CIO says DeepSeek AI and other vendors placed on covered-vendor list; limited law-enforcement exceptions allowed

Summary

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