Focus on the BIG picture.
Saturday, Feb 08, 2025
Outside the box.
0:00
0:00
Authorities Prohibit DeepSeek AI Due to National Security Issues
Officials in Italy, Taiwan, Australia, South Korea, and the United States are taking measures against the Chinese chatbot DeepSeek, citing concerns over data security.
The Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek, renowned for its R1 program built on less sophisticated Nvidia chips, is facing prohibitions from several governments concerned about the potential leak of sensitive information through generative AI services.
For instance, Italian authorities have initiated an investigation into DeepSeek and restricted the app from accessing data belonging to Italian users, following previous limitations on comparable platforms.
In Taiwan, public sector employees and workers at critical infrastructure sites are banned from using the app, a move that Australia promptly replicated.
South Korea's ministries of defense, unification, and police have likewise barred DeepSeek from military and work computers, citing security hazards.
In the United States, legislators have proposed the "No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act," with Congressman Darin LaHood warning that the app, linked to a company affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, represents a concerning national security risk.
Fears are centered on DeepSeek’s terms of service, which allow for the sharing of personal data with third parties, and its privacy policy, which indicates the collection of keystroke patterns to assess user interactions.
Data security experts have observed that while U.S. companies typically resist government data demands, Chinese firms are mandated by law to provide user data upon governmental requests.
Beijing has responded to these actions, asserting that it does not require enterprises or individuals to unlawfully gather or retain data and attributes the restrictions to the politicization of economic, trade, and technological matters.
Analysts also highlight DeepSeek’s alignment with the fundamental socialist values outlined by the company, which contends that the same service rules apply internationally as in China.
Launched in May 2023, DeepSeek has surfaced amid a remarkable increase in research and development investments in China, where R&D expenditure has surged more than eleven-fold over the previous decade according to data from the Korea Chamber of Commerce.
Experts, including academics from the University of Oslo and Sungkyunkwan University, have suggested that the release of DeepSeek’s R1 program may have been a strategic move planned well before recent shifts in U.S. policy, emphasizing the growing importance of software development.
They note that while semiconductor-exporting countries like South Korea and Taiwan continue to excel with advanced chips, DeepSeek’s dependence on the less advanced H800 chips—permitted for export to China until 2023 under U.S. export regulations—shows that similar outcomes can be attained using general semiconductors if the software is robust.
This situation has led to calls for enhanced support and investment in software development from governments like South Korea, as they strive to align with U.S. military cybersecurity standards amid increased technological and geopolitical competition.
For instance, Italian authorities have initiated an investigation into DeepSeek and restricted the app from accessing data belonging to Italian users, following previous limitations on comparable platforms.
In Taiwan, public sector employees and workers at critical infrastructure sites are banned from using the app, a move that Australia promptly replicated.
South Korea's ministries of defense, unification, and police have likewise barred DeepSeek from military and work computers, citing security hazards.
In the United States, legislators have proposed the "No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act," with Congressman Darin LaHood warning that the app, linked to a company affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, represents a concerning national security risk.
Fears are centered on DeepSeek’s terms of service, which allow for the sharing of personal data with third parties, and its privacy policy, which indicates the collection of keystroke patterns to assess user interactions.
Data security experts have observed that while U.S. companies typically resist government data demands, Chinese firms are mandated by law to provide user data upon governmental requests.
Beijing has responded to these actions, asserting that it does not require enterprises or individuals to unlawfully gather or retain data and attributes the restrictions to the politicization of economic, trade, and technological matters.
Analysts also highlight DeepSeek’s alignment with the fundamental socialist values outlined by the company, which contends that the same service rules apply internationally as in China.
Launched in May 2023, DeepSeek has surfaced amid a remarkable increase in research and development investments in China, where R&D expenditure has surged more than eleven-fold over the previous decade according to data from the Korea Chamber of Commerce.
Experts, including academics from the University of Oslo and Sungkyunkwan University, have suggested that the release of DeepSeek’s R1 program may have been a strategic move planned well before recent shifts in U.S. policy, emphasizing the growing importance of software development.
They note that while semiconductor-exporting countries like South Korea and Taiwan continue to excel with advanced chips, DeepSeek’s dependence on the less advanced H800 chips—permitted for export to China until 2023 under U.S. export regulations—shows that similar outcomes can be attained using general semiconductors if the software is robust.
This situation has led to calls for enhanced support and investment in software development from governments like South Korea, as they strive to align with U.S. military cybersecurity standards amid increased technological and geopolitical competition.
