TAIPEI: Taiwan’s digital ministry said on Friday ( Jan 31 ) that government departments should not use Chinese startup DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence ( AI ) service, saying that as the product is from China it represents a security concern.
Given Beijing’s statements to control the area and its military and political hazards to the Taipei state, Taiwan has long been watchful of Chinese technology.
In a speech, Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs said that government agencies are not allowed to employ DeepSeek’s AI services to “prevent information security risks”.
” DeepSeek’s AI services is a Chinese goods, and its function involves cross-border transfer and data leak and other information security issues, and is a product that jeopardises the government’s information protection”, the ministry said.
According to the ministry, it will continue to monitor up-to-date scientific developments and produce “timely adjustments” to its information security procedures to ensure security.
South Korea’s data privacy watchdog earlier on Friday announced it plans to inquire with DeepSeek about how user private information is kept private.
Officials in France, Italy, Ireland, and other nations have also been looking into how DeepSeek uses specific information.
By Monday, DeepSeek’s free AI associate had overtaken US foe ChatGPT in uploads from Apple’s app store and international investors dumped US tech companies, wiping US$ 593 billion off chipmaker Nvidia’s market value in a document one-day reduction for any business on Wall Street.