By cryptoadmin 
February 6, 2025
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South Korea ministries, police block DeepSeek entry
South Korean ministries and police stated Thursday they have been blocking DeepSeek's entry to their computer systems, after the Chinese language AI startup didn’t reply to an information watchdog request about the way it manages consumer data.
DeepSeek launched its R1 chatbot final month, claiming it matches the capability of synthetic intelligence pacesetters in the USA for a fraction of the funding, upending the worldwide trade.
South Korea, together with international locations reminiscent of France and Italy, have requested questions on DeepSeek's knowledge practices, submitting a written request for details about how the corporate handles consumer data.
However after DeepSeek failed to answer an enquiry from South Korea's knowledge watchdog, a slew of ministries confirmed Thursday they have been taking steps to restrict entry to forestall potential leaks of delicate data by generative AI providers.
"Blocking measures for DeepSeek have been carried out particularly for army work-related PCs with Web," a protection ministry official instructed AFP.
The ministry, which oversees active-duty troopers deployed in opposition to the nuclear-armed North, has additionally "reiterated the safety precautions concerning the usage of generative AI for every unit and soldier, taking into consideration safety and technical issues", it added.
South Korea's police instructed AFP that they had additionally blocked entry to DeepSeek, whereas the commerce ministry stated that entry had been quickly restricted on all its PCs.
The commerce, finance, unification and international ministries additionally all stated that they had blocked the app or had taken unspecified measures.
Bans 'not extreme'
Final week, Italy launched an investigation into DeepSeek's R1 mannequin and blocked it from processing Italian customers' knowledge.
Australia has additionally banned DeepSeek from all authorities units on the recommendation of safety businesses.
Kim Jong-hwa, a professor at Cheju Halla College's synthetic intelligence division, instructed AFP that amid rising rivalry between the USA and China he suspected "political elements" may very well be influencing the response to DeepSeek—however stated bans have been nonetheless justified.
"From a technical standpoint, AI fashions like ChatGPT additionally face quite a few security-related points that haven’t but been totally addressed," he stated.
"Provided that China operates beneath a communist regime, I query whether or not they contemplate safety points as a lot as OpenAI does when creating revolutionary applied sciences," he stated.
"We can’t at the moment assess how a lot consideration has been paid to safety issues by DeepSeek when creating its chatbot. Subsequently, I imagine that taking proactive measures shouldn’t be too extreme."
Beijing on Thursday hit again in opposition to the ban, insisting the Chinese language authorities "won’t ever require enterprises or people to illegally acquire or retailer knowledge".
"China has all the time opposed the generalization of nationwide safety and the politicization of financial, commerce and technological points," international ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun stated.
Beijing would additionally "firmly safeguard the respectable rights and pursuits of Chinese language enterprises," Guo vowed.
'Advanced competitors'
DeepSeek says it makes use of less-advanced H800 chips—permitted on the market to China till 2023 beneath US export controls—to energy its giant studying mannequin.
South Korean chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are key suppliers of superior chips utilized in AI servers.
The federal government introduced on Wednesday an extra 34 trillion gained ($23.5 billion) funding in semiconductors and high-tech industries, with the nation's appearing president urging Korean tech corporations to remain versatile.
"Lately, a Chinese language firm unveiled the AI mannequin DeepSeek R1, which gives excessive efficiency at a low value, making a recent impression available in the market," appearing President Choi Sang-mok stated Wednesday.
"The worldwide AI competitors might evolve from a easy infrastructure scale-up rivalry to a extra complicated competitors that features software program capabilities and different elements."
© 2025 AFP
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