South Korea to restrict access to Chinese AI DeepSeek over data concerns

"Due to multiple technical concerns raised about DeepSeek from home and abroad, we plan to block access for the service on PCs connected to external networks," the official said.

A day earlier, access to DeepSeek was restricted on computers at South Korea's foreign, trade, and defence ministries.

Additionally, a separate official from the unification ministry said that the ministry intends to implement similar restrictions on AI services, likely including DeepSeek.

"The unification ministry has (since 2023) prohibited the input of undisclosed official data into all generative AI at the request of the National Intelligence Service and the interior ministry," the official said.

Asked whether the ministry would block access to DeepSeek, the official said, "We plan to take follow-up measures within the day, including blocking access," without directly mentioning its name, Yonhap reported.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment on Thursday joined many other government ministries in blocking access to DeepSeek. The ministry blocked access to DeepSeek from its internet-connected PCs from 9 am (local time), Yonhap reported.

"The intelligence authorities have asked for caution in using DeepSeek, as its personal information collection system is not yet clearly known," a ministry official said.

On January 31, Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) announced that government employees would be prohibited from using DeepSeek due to concerns that it could expose sensitive data to Beijing.

In an official statement, MODA classified DeepSeek AI as a Chinese information and communications technology (ICT) product and cautioned that any data leaks could threaten national security, Focus Taiwan reported.

Italy's data protection authority had also announced that it blocked the Chinese AI model DeepSeek due to a lack of transparency regarding its use of personal data. US and Australian officials have also raised privacy concerns.

Recently, Howard Lutnick, the nominee for US Commerce Secretary, accused DeepSeek of stealing US technology and getting around US export controls to obtain Nvidia chips.

During his nomination hearing before the US Senate on January 29, Lutnick alleged that DeepSeek was able to develop its AI models at a significantly lower cost by purchasing large quantities of Nvidia chips and exploiting data from Meta's open platform, the Asia Times had reported.

He said, "I take a very jaundiced view of China. They only think about themselves and seek to harm us, and so we need to protect ourselves. We need to drive our innovation, and we need to stop helping them. Meta's open platform lets DeepSeek rely on it. Nvidia's chips - which they bought tons of, and they found their ways around [export controls] - drive their DeepSeek model. It's got to end." (ANI)