Chatbot vs national security? Why DeepSeek is raising concerns

Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek upended the global industry and wiped billions off US tech stocks when it unveiled its R1 programme, which it claims was built on cheap, less sophisticated Nvidia semiconductors.But governments from Rome to Seoul are cracking down on the user-friendly Chinese app, saying they need to prevent potential leaks of sensitive information through generative AI services.

Who has banned DeepSeek?

First to act was Italy, which launched an investigation into DeepSeek and said it was blocking the upstart Chinese app from possessing…