By the CyberWire staff

Welcome to the CAVEAT Weekly Newsletter, where we break down some of the major developments and happenings occurring worldwide when discussing cybersecurity, privacy, digital surveillance, and technology policy.

At 1,350 words, this briefing is about a 6-minute read.

At a Glance.

Italy probing DeepSeek over risks of false information.
GENIUS Act moves to the House.

Italy opens investigation into DeepSeek.

The news.

On Monday, Italy’s antitrust watchdog, AGCM, announced that the agency was opening an investigation into the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup, DeepSeek. This investigation is related to DeepSeek allegedly failing to warn users that the AI chatbot could produce false information.

When announcing this investigation, AGCM stated that DeepSeek did not provide users with “sufficiently clear, immediate, and intelligible” warnings about potential AI hallucinations. Furthermore, AGCM described these as “situations in which, in response to a given input entered by a user, the AI model generates one or more outputs containing inaccurate, misleading, or invented information.”

While DeepSeek did not comment on the announcement, this investigation now joins several others into the Chinese-based company.

The knowledge.

Since its release to the wider public in early 2025, DeepSeek has been the subject of intense controversy due to the company’s ties to China. Outside of the United States, investigating DeepSeek’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), many European groups are paying attention to the AI platform.

Alongside AGCM, Italy’s data protection agency, Garante, stated that it ordered DeepSeek to block its chatbot within the nation. This order alleged that the AI company failed to address concerns related to DeepSeek’s privacy policy. More specifically, the watchdog questioned DeepSeek about how it used personal data, seeking information on what data had been collected, from which sources, for what purposes, and where collected data was stored. At the time, Garante stated that this order was meant to protect Italian users and was issued after DeepSeek provided information that was “totally insufficient.”

Outside of Italy, data regulators in both France and Ireland are also taking a deeper look into DeepSeek. For France, a French watchdog announced that it was questioning DeepSeek regarding how the company handled data privacy. For Ireland, the nation’s Data Protection Commission announced its request examining how the company handles Irish users' data, looking for any concerns related to data protection and data privacy.

The impact.

As this investigation takes time to resolve itself, this development resurfaces old concerns surrounding DeepSeek and its data management practices. While many of the previous investigations are also still ongoing, this latest development could signal a renewed push to further examine DeepSeek, its data management practices, and its ties to the CCP.

For now, DeepSeek users should take time to understand the implications of these investigations and their associated privacy concerns. By understanding these risks and how respective governments are aiming to handle the AI platform, users can mitigate any potential impacts.

GENIUS Act passed by the Senate.

The news.

On Tuesday, the Senate voted to pass the GENIUS Act in a 68-30 vote. Gaining bipartisan support, the GENIUS Act aims to regulate stablecoins, a form of cryptocurrency. Now that the bill has passed the Senate, it will proceed to the House, where it is expected to face several challenges.

For greater insights, the GENIUS Act, sponsored by Senator Bill Hagerty, aims to establish new guardrails and consumer protections for stablecoins while also banning members of Congress and their families from profiting from these coins.

After the bill passed, Senator Hagerty stated:

“With this bill, the United States is one step closer to becoming the global leader in crypto. The bill will cement US dollar dominance, it will protect consumers, it will drive demand for US treasuries. Today will be remembered as an inflection point for innovation in the United States of America.”

While it is unclear how the House will handle the bill, President Trump has emphasized his desire to have stablecoin legislation presented to him before the August recess.

The knowledge.

With the GENIUS Act being passed in the Senate, this vote represents a major step forward in regulating a largely untouched but rapidly growing industry. Some of the notable provisions include:

Defining a “payment stablecoin” as a digital asset.
Imposes federal standards on permitted payment stablecoin issuers, including requirements for reserves, money certifications, and capital requirements.
Only allowing stablecoin payments from specific permitted issuers.
Allows state-regulated payment stablecoin issuers to issue stablecoins if state regulations mimic federal ones.
Grants federal banking agencies authority over stablecoin issuers.
Imposes customer protection standards such as segregation of funds, audited reports, and supervision powers.

However, while this bill passed with bipartisan support, there are still notable concerns. After advancing the bill through the Senate Banking Committee in March, the bill saw some pushback from Senate Democrats. Beginning in early May, Senate Democrats prevented the legislation from advancing with the hopes of amending the bill to ensure greater protections for national security and anti-money laundering provisions.

Since then, new changes were made that appeased some Democratic members. At the time, Senator Mark Warner stated that the measure was a “meaningful step forward.” Senator Warner also released a statement emphasizing the importance of the bill writing:

“The stablecoin market has reached nearly $250 billion and the US can’t afford to keep standing on the sidelines. We need clear rules of the road to protect consumers, defend national security, and support responsible innovation.”

While there are still some Senate Democrats opposed to the bill, emphasizing that it does not regulate enough, the bill now heads to the House floor.

The impact.

As the GENIUS Act is debated in the House, it is likely that this bill will face notable hurdles and will likely be amended before it reaches President Trump. Nonetheless, even if this bill is unable to pass the House as is, this effort is representative of a growing movement to better address cryptocurrencies.

While both Congress and President Trump work to better regulate cryptocurrencies and formalize their adoption, people involved in these markets should understand these efforts and the provisions the government is considering implementing. By understanding these regulations and accounting for them, cryptocurrency users will be able to ensure they are in compliance with all relevant laws and minimize any federal or state repercussions.

Highlighting key conversations.

In this week’s Caveat Podcast, our team revisited our conversation with Camille Stewart Gloster, the former Deputy National Cyber Director for the White House. During this conversation, Camille shares a retrospective of her public service career.

Like what you read, and curious about the conversation? Head over to the Caveat Podcast for the full scoop and additional compelling insights. Our Caveat Podcast is a weekly show where we discuss topics related to surveillance, digital privacy, cybersecurity law, and policy. Got a question you'd like us to answer on our show? You can send your audio file to caveat@thecyberwire.com. Hope to hear from you.

Caveat Briefing for 06.20.25

At a Glance.

Italy opens investigation into DeepSeek.

The news.

The knowledge.

The impact.

GENIUS Act passed by the Senate.

The news.

The knowledge.

The impact.

Highlighting key conversations.

Other noteworthy stories.