SEOUL:  , Chinese AI robot DeepSeek upended the global economy and wiped billion off US tech shares when it unveiled its R1 program, which it claims was built on affordable, less powerful Nvidia semiconductors.
However, governments from Seoul to Rome are cracking down on the user-friendly Chinese apps, saying they must stop possible leaking of sensitive information using conceptual AI service.
AFP takes a look at what’s going on:
WHO HAS BANNED DEEPSEEK?
Italy was the first to launch a probe into DeepSeek and claimed it was stopping European consumers from obtaining their data.
In 2023, Italy’s Data Protection Authority had recently blocked European rival ChatGPT.
Next, Taiwan prohibited using DeepSeek because it was a Chinese goods and may threaten national security. It also prohibited employees in the public sector and at important infrastructure facilities.
Australia is following fit time later.
Finally, North Korean ministries- including military and unity, which oversees ties with the nuclear-armed North- and the government’s authorities force banned the app from defense and work computers, citing security risks.
Authorities there announced on Monday that a review of how personal data is handled will be conducted while DeepSeek is not accessible through local app stores.
Congressman Darin LaHood, a member of Congress’s” Chinese Communist Party-affiliated company,” called the threat “alarming” that “deepSeek posed to the United States.
State-level bans were also issued in Texas, Virginia and New York.
Personal information “must be protected from malicious espionage operations by the Chinese Communist Party,” according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
WHY ARE THEY WORRIED?
Similar to OpenAI’s Chat GPT, there is a section on the provision of personal data to third parties in DeepSeek’s terms and conditions.
However, US businesses typically decline government requests for data, according to Youm Heung-youl, a data security professor at Soonchunhyang University.” In China, businesses are legally obligated to provide user data when the government requests access,” he said.
” The perception of trust in companies is frequently affected by this distinction between respecting user privacy and providing government access,” says one researcher.
According to DeepSeek’s privacy policy, it also collects information on “key stroke patterns or rhythms” which detects how an individual interacts with each button.