SINGAPORE: In recent weeks, several countries have moved to ban or restrict China’s breakout artificial intelligence (AI) app DeepSeek-R1, citing privacy and security concerns.
The startup caused a stir in the global AI industry last month with the launch of a low-cost chatbot said to be on par with or better than existing options.
And DeepSeek said it spent only US$5.6 million to develop the model – a fraction of the billions spent by industry-leading competitors in the United States.
DeepSeek’s AI Assistant eventually overtook OpenAI’s ChatGPT as the top-rated free app on Apple’s US app store.
That same day, nearly US$600 billion was wiped off the market value of US chipmaker Nvidia, whose semiconductors power the AI industry. It was a record one-day loss for any company on Wall Street.
Who has banned, restricted or taken action against DeepSeek?
Australia has banned DeepSeek on the advice of security agencies, with a government official calling it “absolutely not a symbolic move”.
Government employees have been told that DeepSeek products, applications and web services pose an “unacceptable level of security risk” to the Australian government. The access, use or installation of DeepSeek products is now not allowed across government systems and mobile devices.
The federal government has restricted DeepSeek’s chatbot from some of its mobile devices, due to “serious privacy concerns” relating to what it called the “inappropriate” collection and retention of sensitive personal information.
The government’s chief information officer has said the move will ensure networks and data remain secure and protected. He said the agency in charge of the government’s IT network has already restricted DeepSeek on all supported devices, with other departments urged to follow suit.
Italy’s data protection authority has blocked DeepSeek over what it called “totally insufficient” information on its use of personal data.
Dutch media has reported that civil servants have been banned from using DeepSeek for work, over fears of sensitive information ending up on Chinese servers. The ban was imposed by authorities on the grounds of possible espionage, according to local media.
The Dutch Data Protection Authority had also earlier urged residents to use the app with caution.
South Korean authorities are blocking DeepSeek’s access to work computers, after the Chinese startup failed to respond to an enquiry from a data watchdog on how the company handles user information.
A South Korean defence ministry official was quoted saying that these measures had been implemented specifically for military work-related PCs with internet. The trade ministry also said access to the app had been temporarily restricted on all its PCs.
South Korea’s spy agency has also claimed that DeepSeek was “excessively” collecting personal data to train itself.
Taiwan’s digital ministry has said that government departments should not use DeepSeek’s AI service, given that the product is from China and thus represents a security concern.
Lawmakers in Washington have introduced a Bill to ban DeepSeek from being used on government devices, over concerns about user data security.
They called the programme an “alarming threat to US national security” and warned of “direct ties” between DeepSeek and the Chinese government.
US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA has already taken action and blocked access to the platform from its systems, CNBC said in a report. The reason given was that DeepSeek’s servers operate outside of the US and thus raise national security and privacy concerns.
It was also reported previously that the US Navy had warned members to avoid using DeepSeek due to “potential security and ethical concerns”.
On Monday, the state of New York banned DeepSeek on government devices, citing “serious concerns” over cyber threats, data privacy and safety as well as state-sponsored censorship.
