Italy Blocks Chinese Chatbot DeepSeek

The Italian regulator has actually obstructed a Chinese application with built-in artificial intelligence DeepSeek.

This was reported by the regional regulator Garante.

The emergency order entered effect instantly to safeguard the personal information of Italians.

The decision comes two days after Italy sent a request about how DeepSeek uses users’ personal data. The regional regulator asked what data is collected, why, and whether it is saved in China. However, the Chinese company’s action was considered “totally inadequate”. They said they do not operate in Italy which European law does not apply to them.

The DeepSeek app has been missing out on from digital stores in Italy given that January 29. The web version, however, remained available – and it is still offered today.

The Italian newspaper la Repubblica composes that the main page of DeepSeek states that usersʼ personal information is stored on servers in China, the of chats with the bot can be used to train its algorithms, and the service should not be used by children under 14. However, the Italian regulator requested additional details, which it did not receive.

What is DeepSeek?

On January 27, DeepSeek overtook ChatGPT to end up being the most popular free app on the App Store. On the exact same day, the Chinese chatbot underwent a large-scale cyberattack.

DeepSeek was established in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, a 40-year-old graduate of the School of Information and Electronic Engineering. He established a shop for Nvidia A100 chips, which are now prohibited from being exported to China. Media reports suggest that this may have prompted him to launch DeepSeek, integrating those chips with cheaper, lower-end ones that are still readily available for import.

DeepSeek is based on the open-source DeepSeek-V3 design. Some professionals state that the model was established for less than $6 million – competitors spend a lot more. However, other experts dispute this details.