Taiwan Just Banned DeepSeek—Here’s Why

Overview: Taiwan has officially banned its government agencies from using DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, citing major security risks. The Ministry of Digital Affairs claims DeepSeek’s AI services could lead to data leaks and potential cyber threats. Other countries, including Italy, South Korea, and France, are also keeping a close eye on DeepSeek’s data handling practices.

Taiwan is doubling down on cybersecurity, especially when it comes to Chinese tech. The government has already banned risky communication and IT products for 6 years now, but now, AI is the latest battleground. DeepSeek’s new chatbot, R1, has been making waves, claiming to be just as powerful as top US AI models but at half the cost.That is nice, but Taiwan is not buying it. Concerned by the cross-border data transfer and the espionage threat it poses, the officials take no chances.

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It isn’t just Taiwan that’s raising an alarm: from South Korea, Ireland to even Italy, regulators of personal data protection, in one form or another, have raised various questions regarding the policy on DeepSeek data. Italy went a step further this week, straight-up banning DeepSeek from processing Italian user data and removing its AI from the App Store and Google Play. France and Australia are also looking into the issue. With AI regulation heating up globally, this could be the start of even stricter crackdowns on Chinese tech.

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