A new download of the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek application (app) has been blocked in Italy.
According to the Ansa (ANSA) news agency on the 29th (local time), accessing the DeepSeek app through the Apple App Store in Italy results in a notification saying, "Currently not available in the country or region you are in." The notification on Google's application (app) platform states, "Downloads are not supported in Italy."
Reuters reported that users in Italy who have already downloaded the DeepSeek app appear to be able to use the service normally. The agency also noted that downloading and using the service is still available in other European Union (EU) countries and the United Kingdom.
The recent blocking of DeepSeek occurred just hours after the Italian data protection authority, Garante, sent a questionnaire to DeepSeek regarding its user data processing practices. Garante is said to have expressed concerns that the personal data of Italian users was being stored on servers in China.
In March 2023, Garante pointed out that there was no legal basis for OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, to collect and utilize personal data on a large scale for training its AI model, becoming the first among Western countries to implement access blocking measures for ChatGPT within its own nation. Last month, Garante imposed a fine of 15 million euros (about 22.5 billion won) on OpenAI after concluding an investigation into the use of personal data.
Meanwhile, DeepSeek's AI app has been hailed for its performance, comparable to AI apps from companies like OpenAI and Google, and on the 27th it surged to the number one spot for downloads in the U.S. App Store, surpassing ChatGPT. Concerns have emerged that U.S. technology corporations are overvalued due to the introduction of the low-cost, high-performance AI model DeepSeek, leading to a significant drop in U.S. technology stocks.