Several Republican attorneys general are investigating tech giants Apple and Google over their continued hosting of Chinese-owned applications, including TikTok and AI chatbots DeepSeek and Manus, on their app stores. The probe centers on allegations that these apps have data privacy exposure risks and violate consumer protection laws.
GOP lawmakers view TikTok and similar Chinese-owned apps as tools for the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda and surveillance operations. The attorney general believes that tech companies have a duty to act in the interest of US consumers and national security.
Tennessee AG leads probe into foreign apps on US stores
Leading the charge is Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, who issued subpoenas to both Apple and Google. The subpoenas demand documents detailing the companies’ decisions to first deplatform TikTok in January and later restore it in February following executive orders issued by President Donald Trump.
Skrmetti is also requesting information related to the hosting of DeepSeek and Manus, two AI chatbot applications owned by Chinese firms. Attorneys General Steve Marshall of Alabama and Austin Knudsen of Montana have joined the probe, according to a Monday report from The Wall Street Journal.
The attorneys general argue that by hosting these applications, the companies are violating both state-level consumer protection statutes and federal data security laws.
“Our new inquiry is rooted exclusively in Tennessee law and focuses on data privacy concerns related to certain Chinese apps available through app stores,” Skrmetti told Fox News.
The Tennessee attorney general’s office also introduced new data privacy guidelines earlier this week, in line with Tennessee’s recently passed data protection law.
Republican AGs: Chinese apps are a danger to US citizens
DeepSeek is currently under investigation by the US House of Representatives for allegedly “harvesting” user data that it stores on servers located in China.
Several states have already taken action against DeepSeek. New York, Texas, and Virginia have banned the app from all government devices. The backlash is reminiscent of state-level moves against TikTok, which is now banned from government devices in 39 states across the country.
Biden’s 2024 law required ByteDance to divest from its short-form video platform by January 25, 2025, or face a ban in the United States. The Supreme Court upheld the law in January.
President Donald Trump, upon returning to office in January 2025, issued a 75-day extension for ByteDance to sell TikTok . He followed that with another 75-day extension in April, pushing back the enforcement deadline to allow negotiations for a potential sale.
Trump goes ‘soft’ on TikTok
In 2020, during his first spell in the Oval Office, President Trump signed an executive order to effectively ban TikTok over national security concerns. However, he seems to have had “a change of heart,” towards the Chinese-owned app.
In January, he appeared on Fox News and asked if the platform truly posed a serious threat. “Is it that important for China to be spying on young people?” he asked host Sean Hannity.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump credited the platform with helping him win over younger voters. “I won young people by 36 points,” he said in an interview on Meet The Press Sunday.
“No Republican ever won young people, and I won it by 36 points, and I focused on TikTok.”
The POTUS said he has a “warm spot” for the platform and confirmed he would consider granting more extensions for interested buyers in the US to finalize a deal.
“We actually have a deal,” he revealed. “We have a group of purchasers, very substantial people. They’re going to pay a lot of money. It’s a good thing for us.”
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