The popular Chinese chatbot DeepSeek, which in a short time became the main competitor of ChatGPT, began to be blocked in Europe, writes IZ with reference to the UNIAN material. The first country to restrict access to the application was Italy. It was removed from the Apple and Google stores due to the local regulator's demands to disclose details about the collection and processing of personal data. The country's authorities want to find out what data the chatbot receives, how it is used, and whether it is stored on Chinese servers.
The companies behind DeepSeek have received an official request to provide relevant information by February 17. If violations of privacy laws are found, the chatbot could face fines or further restrictions. Similar questions have been raised by regulators in Ireland and Germany, who are closely monitoring the situation. Although the application is currently available in most EU countries, experts suggest that its use could be at risk across Europe.
Interestingly, Italy already has experience in blocking artificial intelligence. In 2023, the country was the first in Europe to ban ChatGPT due to concerns about the processing of user data. Then OpenAI made concessions and introduced additional measures to increase the transparency of its work. Whether the developers of DeepSeek are ready to act similarly is still unknown, but the attention of European regulators to Chinese technologies is only growing.
Despite the restrictions in Europe, the popularity of DeepSeek continues to grow. The application topped the download rating in the American App Store, bypassing ChatGPT, Threads and other popular services. The success of the Chinese product has already affected the financial markets: on January 27, shares of large American IT companies fell sharply, and Nvidia lost about $ 600 billion in market value in a day. In the US, DeepSeek is seen as a serious challenge to the country's technological sector. The rapid growth of DeepSeek's popularity has attracted the attention of not only users, but also European regulators. If the developers do not prove data security, the chatbot may lose access to the EU market.
Recall that we previously wrote about what is known about the Chinese chatbot DeepSeek
