DeepSeek came in and shook the artificial intelligence (AI) industry all over the world, and by the looks of it, some governments too. It was seen as China’s answer to ChatGPT. In a matter of days of its AI chatbot going viral, the Chinese startup finds itself at the crosshairs of several regulators.
In India, the ministry of finance has banned the use of DeepSeek by its employees, joining several government agencies across the world to do so. A growing list of nations have either fully or partially banned the use of DeepSeek within their borders. While some have banned their government employees from using the AI chatbot, others have extended the curbs to private citizens as well.
Here is a list of countries that have banned DeepSeek AI, either fully or partially.
Countries with full or government use ban on DeepSeek AI
Italy: Italy became the first country in the world to ban the Deepseek Aidoing it as early as last month. The Chinese AI platform has been removed from app stores in the European country. The ban was imposed after Italy’s privacy watchdog, the Italian Data Protection Authority (DPA), asked the startup to give information on how they handle user data.
The DPA came into action after a complaint by Euroconsumers, a consumer coalition group. DeepSeek had been given 20 days to reply but the ban came just days after that.
Taiwan: While Taiwan hasn’t yet banned its private citizens from using the Chinese AI chatbot, its regulations have been quite strict. The country has banned the use of DeepSeek AI across all public sector organisations. The ban also extends to public schools, state-owned enterprises, and all of the nation’s critical infrastructure.
According to the Taiwan ministry of digital affairs, its concern is about the risk that the Chinese startup poses regarding cross-border data transmission and information leaks. Taiwan and China are in a long-standing dispute over sovereignty. China claims Taiwan to be a part of its territory.
Australia: The Australian government has banned its government employees from using the DeepSeek AI chatbot. The country’s home affairs minister Tony Burke, announced the decision, highlighting that a national intelligence assessment found the AI platform to pose an unacceptable security risk. Effective immediately, all DeepSeek products and services will be removed from Australian government infrastructure.
While this ban does not apply to personal devices, Burke urged Australians to be cautious about their online data usage and to protect their digital privacy.
