Italy bans Chinese DeepSeek AI over privacy violations

Italy’s data protection authority, the Garante, has ordered Chinese AI startup DeepSeek to block its chatbot in the country after failing to address privacy concerns. The company was instructed to cease its operations in Italy following an inadequate response to regulatory inquiries.

DeepSeek, which has faced criticism from Western regulators for its data collection practices, has sparked fears it could exploit foreign data for espionage. The Garante deemed DeepSeek’s response “totally insufficient,” noting that the company denied operating in Italy and rejected the applicability of European laws.

With over 10 million global downloads, DeepSeek is a generative AI chatbot claimed to be more advanced than OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4 and Google’s Gemini. The company’s technology poses a challenge to Silicon Valley’s dominance in the AI space.

Following Italy’s action, French and South Korean regulators also pledged to investigate DeepSeek over data privacy concerns. Irish authorities have raised similar concerns.

Although DeepSeek has removed its chatbot from Italian app stores, users who previously downloaded the app can still access it. The web version remains operational in Italy.

In 2023, the Garante also ordered OpenAI to block access to its chatbot in Italy due to data privacy violations, imposing a €15 million fine.