Italian data protection authorities have ordered Chinese AI startup DeepSeek to block its chatbot in Italy.
The Italian Protection Data Authority, known locally as the Garante, ordered the technology company to cease its alleged operations in Italy on Thursday. The move came shortly after the firm failed to satisfy local regulators' inquiries into its privacy policies, the watchdog said in a statement.
DeepSeek has faced plenty of opposition over its data collection practices from western regulators, who say they fear the firm could exploit foreigners’ data for espionage and other nefarious purposes.
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The Garante said that DeepSeek's response to its questions about the company's data collection practices was “totally insufficient.”
“Contrary to the authority’s findings, the companies declared that they do not operate in Italy, and that European legislation does not apply to them,’’ the Garante said in its statement.
The Garante added that it has opened an investigation into DeepSeek’s alleged operations in Italy. A Garante representative did not immediately respond to Decrypt's request for comment.
More than 10 million users across the world have downloaded DeepSeek on the Google Play Store, marketplace data shows.
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DeepSeek is an open-source generative AI chatbot that is claimed to be more advanced than its predecessors, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT-4 and Google's Gemini. The app's powerful, cost-effective technology could loosen GPU chipmaker Nvidia's stranglehold on the AI market, challenging Silicon Valley's dominance in artificial intelligence and Big Tech.
Earlier this week, $1 trillion was erased from the NASDAQ 100, the U.S. leading technology stock index, in a single day over fears that much-hyped AI companies and their beneficiaries could suffer from a Chinese AI resurgence. Nvidia itself lost about $600 million in value on Monday alone.
Still, regulators and lawmakers across the globe have been rattled by the disruption, especially as questions around DeepSeek's privacy policies remain largely unanswered.
French and South Korean authorities on Friday vowed to probe DeepSeek over its data collection practices, French news outlet France 24 reported. Meanwhile, Irish watchdogs have also signaled they would pose questions about how the AI company harvests users’ data.
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DeepSeek told Italian authorities that it had removed its AI assistant from local app stores, but it denied it should be subject to their rules, Garante board member Agostino Ghiglia said Thursday in an interview with Reuters.
"Not only did DeepSeek's response not give us any reassurance, it worsened their position, and that's the reason we decided to order the block," Ghiglia said.
Although DeepSeek is no longer available for download in Italian app stores, it remains operational for Italian users who had already downloaded the app.
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The web version of the service also remains operational in Italy, according to Reuters.
The Garante is among the most active data protection authorities in the EU.
In 2023, the data authority ordered OpenAI to block access to its AI chatbot ChatGPT in Italy due to concerns over the company’s alleged violation of EU data privacy rules. Later, the Garante slapped OpenAI with a €15 million fine, after ruling the AI maker had exploited users’ personal data to train its chatbot without "an adequate legal basis.”
Edited by Stacy Elliott
