Seoul has blocked access to DeepSeek AI services from government devices, joining a list of companies and countries taking action to limit usage of the Chinese startup’s artificial intelligence chatbot due to security concerns.
South Korea’s Defence, Foreign and Trade Ministries have restricted officials’ access to the service on government computers, Yonhap News reported.
The Defence Ministry said yesterday that it has taken “necessary preemptive measures” on computers used at work due to security and technical concerns over generative AI services.
The South Korean government is conducting a security review of the service, the Foreign Ministry said, declining to confirm what specific safety measures it has taken.
The trade, Industry and Energy Ministry has restricted access to DeepSeek in computers that can connect externally, it said.
Companies and government agencies around the world have taken precautionary measures to limit access to DeepSeek due to concerns about potential data leaks and weak privacy safeguards.
Australia has banned DeepSeek AI services from all government systems and devices, while Italy ordered for it to be blocked to protect consumers’ data.
Ireland has asked for more information from the company over potential breaches of European Union privacy law.
Japan already effectively bans the use of generative AI services for any government devices handling highly sensitive information, though it’s up to each ministry to decide on usage for other devices.
The Chinese AI was developed by Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Basic Technology Research Co, and competes with the more-established ChatGPT service from OpenAI Inc in the US. — Bloomberg
