The security issues of the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek are being scrutinized in Japan as calls to prohibit its use are gaining traction.
According to Kyodo News on the 12th, major companies including the world's largest automobile manufacturer Toyota Motor Corporation, SoftBank, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have banned the use of DeepSeek due to concerns about information leakage.
In the case of SoftBank, access to DeepSeek is regulated within the company, and downloading the DeepSeek application on work devices is being prohibited. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is known to not grant permission even if employees request to use DeepSeek.
An official from a major company in the materials sector that has prohibited the use of DeepSeek said to Kyodo News, "We determined that there is a risk, unlike the generative AI from Microsoft used in our work."
Previously, the Japanese government had also urged caution in using DeepSeek, noting that data would be stored on Chinese servers and that the AI model would be subject to Chinese laws.
Meanwhile, the ban on the use of DeepSeek is increasingly gaining traction not only in Japan but also in South Korea, Taiwan, and among Western countries including the United States and Italy.