TECH NEWS – DeepSeek has not only been banned around the US Navy, but its use has been temporarily banned elsewhere!

This time South Korea has decided to ban DeepSeek, although the restriction on access to the service will only be temporary. But it is not only Chinese AI that the South Korean government is watching with a wary eye, as it is warning other ministries about the risks of using other chatbots (such as ChatGPT): they are not recommended to be used on government equipment (if it contains sensitive information).

The South Korean government issued a statement on Tuesday, according to Reuters. Ministries and other agencies have been asked to exercise caution when using DeepSeek and ChatGPT services in the workplace. Prior to the announcement, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power had already announced that it had banned the use of these services in early February. The Ministry of National Defense followed suit, blocking DeepSeek on military computers to minimize the risk of intrusion.

The Foreign Office followed suit, restricting DeepSeek access to employees on computers connected to external networks. Although the relevant ministries have also mentioned the potential security concerns raised by ChatGPT, they have not confirmed whether the service has been banned in South Korea. Incidentally, DeepSeek was banned on all government devices in Taiwan and Australia this week, and the app is also unavailable in the Italian Google Play Store and Apple App Store after DeepSeek was contacted with a number of questions about GDPR compliance and the company’s handling of privacy.

South Korea’s data protection watchdog is set to question DeepSeek about how it handles users’ personal data. Depending on the company’s response, the ban on its AI chatbot in the country could be lifted or kept in place indefinitely… and the latter wouldn’t be surprising.

Source: WCCFTech