DeepSeek under 'threat', faces growing scrutiny from government regulators

ChatGPT's new rival, the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, has come under scrutiny in some countries for its security policies and privacy practices.

The news just came after DeepSeek said in January 2026 that it had developed an AI model to rival ChatGPT at a much lower cost.

According to its own privacy policy, DeepSeek stores numerous pieces of personal data, such as requests to its AI program or uploaded ‌files, on computers in China, reports Reuters.

The timeline of 2025 shows how major countries across the globe took actions regarding DeepSeek:

January 2025

Countries like France, Italy, and the Netherlands said that their privacy watchdog will question DeepSeek to gain a better idea of how the Chinese startup's AI system works and any possible privacy risks for users.

Italy's antitrust watchdog, AGCM, has ended an investigation ‍into the Chinese AI system DeepSeek for allegedly failing to warn users that it may produce false information, agreeing to binding commitments as a condition for closing the case.

In January of 2025, it blocked the app citing a lack of information on its use of personal data.

The Netherlands' privacy watchdog at the end of January said it would launch an investigation into Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek's data collection practices and urged Dutch users ‌to exercise caution with the company's software.

The government has also banned civil servants from using the app, citing policy regarding countries with an offensive cyber program, the government spokesperson said in late July.

February 2025

Australia banned DeepSeek from all government devices over concerns that it posed security risks, while Russia's President Vladimir Putin in early February instructed Sberbank to collaborate with Chinese researchers on joint AI projects, according to a top executive at Russia's biggest bank.

India's finance ministry also asked ‌its employees at the beginning of February 2025 to avoid using AI tools, including ChatGPT and DeepSeek, for official purposes, citing risks posed to the confidentiality of government documents and data.

Moreover, South Korea's data protection authority said in mid-February that new downloads of the DeepSeek app had been suspended in the country after the startup acknowledged failing to take into account some of the agency's ⁠rules on protecting personal data.

In addition to that, Taiwan in February banned government departments from using DeepSeek's service, as it saw it as a security risk. It also raised concerns about censorship on DeepSeek and the risk of data ending up in China.

April 2025

The ‍Trump administration is weighing penalties that ⁠would block DeepSeek from buying U.S. technology and is debating barring Americans' access to its services, the New York Times reported in April.

A group of nine U.S. lawmakers sent in December a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth urging the ⁠Pentagon to add a slew of Chinese technology firms, including DeepSeek, to a list of entities allegedly assisting the Chinese military.

June 2025

As per a data protection authority's commissioner, Germany has asked Apple and Google to remove DeepSeek from their stores due to concerns about data safety.

July 2025

The Czech government in July 2025 ‌banned the country's public administration from using any of the services of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek due to data security concerns.

August 2025

Seven Republican U.S. senators in August already asked ‌the Commerce Department to evaluate potential data security vulnerabilities posed by Chinese open-source AI models like DeepSeek.