By Martin Haffner Associate Editor
The Taiwanese government classifies DeepSeek from China as a security risk – similar to the Pentagon. Italy blocks the AI bot due to data protection concerns.
DeepSeek’s hyped large R1 language model and the chatbot based on it are not only causing tremors on the stock markets, but are also causing concern among numerous governments. According to consistent agency reports, Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs declared on Friday that all government agencies and critical infrastructures in the island state should not use the AI system. The reason: it “jeopardizes national information security”.
The DeepSeek service is a Chinese product, the department explained. Its operation involves cross-border data transmission and information leaks. There are also serious concerns about IT security and the protection of user privacy with the service at the latest after a leak. In principle, official bodies in Taiwan have been banned from using information and communication technology products and services that pose a threat to national information security since 2019. The government in Taipei has long accused Beijing of hybrid attacks, including cyberattacks and propaganda campaigns, which fall just below the threshold of open hostilities.
Countries such as Germany, Italy, South Korea, Ireland, France, Australia and the USA are also increasingly skeptical about DeepSeek. The Italian data protection authority, the Garante, ordered a national ban on the chatbot on Thursday. It urged the Chinese companies Hangzhou and Beijing DeepSeek, which operate the service, to stop processing data from Italian users with immediate effect.
