DeepSeek AI banned in South Korea – should the US be next?

DeepSeek became a viral sensation a few weeks ago when it was revealed that a reasoning AI could be as good as ChatGPT o1 without access to high-end hardware that US AI firms get. Chinese startups like DeepSeek are banned from buying the latest Nvidia GPUs needed for AI development, so the DeepSeek engineers used software optimizations to maximize performance.

While the DeepSeek app topped the App Store, I warned users to avoid the Chinese genAI product, as various issues were immediately obvious. The privacy policy stated that DeepSeek data is sent to servers in China. Then, there was the built-in censorship to worry about.

Soon after, we learned that DeepSeek databases may have been hacked, and that DeepSeek user data travels to servers in China unencrypted. Also worrying is the fact that the data goes to ByteDance servers, the giant Chinese tech company that owns TikTok, among other things.

These issues are good enough to consider a DeepSeek ban, which some US lawmakers have already put forward. Separately, some countries have started banning DeepSeek, with Italy being among the first to do so.

Fast-forward to mid-February, South Korea decided to ban DeepSeek downloads on iPhone and Android after discovering that user data goes to ByteDance servers. DeepSeek has acknowledged the issues in handling user privacy in the country.

Continue reading...

The post DeepSeek AI banned in South Korea – should the US be next? appeared first on BGR.

Today's Top Deals

1. Presidents’ Day deals: Apple blowout, LG OLED TVs, Fitbits, Miele vacuums, Sony ANC headphones, more
2. Best deals: Tech, laptops, TVs, and more sales
3. Best Echo Dot deals for February 2025
4. Presidents’ Day weekend deals: $298 Nintendo Switch OLED, $279 Apple iPad 10, Dell & HP laptops, more