The Taiwanese government has issued a ban on the use of the generative artificial intelligence (AI) service DeepCheek.
According to Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) and Reuters on the 1st, the Digital Department of Taiwan imposed a ban on the use of the generative AI service 'DeepCheek-R1' for public sector workers the previous day.
DeepCheek-R1 is a reasoning AI model introduced by the Chinese AI startup DeepCheek, which amazed the world with performance similar to that of OpenAI's 'ChatGPT,' even without the latest AI semiconductors.
The Digital Department of Taiwan explained the reason for the ban, stating that it is a product and service of China's information and communication technology (ICT), with concerns that data could leak to the Chinese government, posing risks to national security.
The Taiwanese government's ban on DeepCheek applies not only to workers in central and local government departments and agencies, as well as state-owned enterprises, but also to individuals working for government-owned foundations.
Meanwhile, major countries around the world, in addition to Taiwan, are also wary of information leaks to China. Dutch authorities have issued warnings regarding usage, and Italy blocked the use of DeepCheek on the 29th of last month.