Why Italy Banned Deepseek AI

Italy’s data protection authority Garante has blocked Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek within its borders, citing possible data protection violation.

This comes after Garante contacted Deepseek seeking answers on how it is collecting and processing user’s data. The inquiry sought to know what personal data is collected both by Deepseek app and its web platform, including that purpose of collection, legal basis and if the data is stored in China. 

In 30 January, the Italian data watchdog banned Deepseek app and its web platform, stating that the Chinese firm failed to satisfactorily explain how it’s using Italians’ personal data.

The ban on AI chatbots in Italy is not the first time. In 2023, Garante banned OpenAI’s ChatGPT on similar grounds. It had stated that there was no legal basis for OpenAI to collect, process and use personal data to train its AI model. The ban was later lifted in April 2023, with OpenAI paying a fine of approximately Sh2 trillion ($15.5 billion) for violating data protection rules.

The ban of Deepseek comes amid its rising popularity across the world. The company’s app has risen to the top of Google Play Store and Apple App Store in many countries, surpassing other chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Some experts even argue that the Chinese chatbot is at par or even better than US counterparts despite its low training budget.

Currently, US is investigating if Deepseek used advanced US-made chips which were initially banned from export to China. The US has imposed a strict ban on chips exports to China, as it seeks to limit its access to advanced chips citing national security as it could be used for military and surveillance purposes.

Other concerns that have been raised in the US about the storage of user data in China, which would violate the data protection laws and risks a ban.