South Korea has banned new downloads of the Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek due to concerns about personal data privacy. The decision was announced by the country’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), which stated the app could return to stores once it complies with national data protection laws.
DeepSeek recently gained significant popularity in South Korea, quickly reaching over a million weekly users. However, its rapid success also brought heightened scrutiny from both domestic and international regulators.
Government Actions and Industry Concerns
On Saturday evening, DeepSeek became unavailable for download on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play. The ban followed decisions by multiple government agencies to prohibit their employees from using the chatbot on work devices.
Choi Sang-mok, South Korea’s acting president, called DeepSeek’s rise a “shock” and warned about its potential impact on industries beyond AI. Despite the ban on new downloads, users who already have the app installed can continue using it or access it via DeepSeek’s website.
Global Scrutiny and Restrictions
South Korea is not the only country concerned about DeepSeek. Taiwan and Australia have also banned the app on government devices. The Australian government emphasized that its decision was not due to the app’s Chinese origin but rather the “unacceptable risk” it poses to national security.
In Europe, Italy’s data protection authority has followed suit, demanding improvements to DeepSeek’s privacy practices. Regulators in France and Ireland have also raised questions about how the company stores and processes user data. Concerns center on whether personal information is stored on servers in China, as DeepSeek’s privacy policy suggests.
Meanwhile, in the United States, lawmakers have introduced a bill to ban DeepSeek from federal devices, citing surveillance risks. Several states, including Texas, Virginia, and New York, have already implemented similar restrictions for state employees.
AI Innovation and Cost-Efficiency
DeepSeek’s rapid rise has drawn comparisons to leading US models like OpenAI’s GPT-4. Its large language model (LLM) reportedly offers comparable reasoning capabilities while requiring significantly less computing power and training costs.
The chatbot’s success has sparked questions about the massive investments being made in AI infrastructure in the US and other countries. Experts are now watching how DeepSeek addresses privacy concerns and whether it can maintain its momentum amid increasing global scrutiny.
For now, South Korean users will have to wait for updates to the app’s privacy practices before it returns to local app stores.
