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South Korean ministries and police blocking DeepSeek's access to work computers

South Korean ministries and authorities said Thursday they were obstructing DeepSeek's access to their computer systems, after the Chinese AI startup did not respond to a data watchdog request about how it handles user details.

DeepSeek introduced its R1 chatbot last month, claiming it matches the capability of artificial intelligence pacesetters in the United States for a fraction of the financial investment, overthrowing the international industry.

South Korea, along with countries such as France and fishtanklive.wiki Italy, have asked questions about DeepSeek's data practices, submitting a written request for details about how the business deals with user details.

But after DeepSeek failed to react to a query from South Korea's information watchdog, a multitude of ministries confirmed Thursday they were taking steps to limit access to prevent potential leaks of sensitive details through generative AI services.

"Blocking measures for DeepSeek have been carried out specifically for military work-related PCs with Internet," a defence ministry official informed AFP.

The ministry, which oversees active-duty soldiers deployed against the nuclear-armed North, securityholes.science has likewise "repeated the security precautions concerning the use of generative AI for each system and soldier, considering security and technical issues", oke.zone it added.

South Korea's cops told AFP they had likewise obstructed access to DeepSeek, while the trade ministry said that gain access to had actually been momentarily limited on all its PCs.

The trade, utahsyardsale.com finance, unification and foreign ministries also all said they had obstructed the app or had taken unspecified procedures.

- Bans 'not extreme' -

Recently, Italy released an examination into DeepSeek's R1 model and obstructed it from processing Italian users' information.

Australia has also banned DeepSeek from all government gadgets on the advice of security firms.

Kim Jong-hwa, a professor at Cheju Halla University's artificial intelligence department, informed AFP that amidst growing rivalry in between the United States and China he suspected "political factors" might be influencing the response to DeepSeek-- but said restrictions were still justified.

"From a technical viewpoint, AI designs like ChatGPT likewise face various security-related issues that have not yet been totally attended to," he said.

"Given that China runs under a communist routine, I question whether they think about security problems as much as OpenAI does when establishing innovative innovations," he said.

"We can not presently assess how much attention has actually been paid to security concerns by DeepSeek when developing its chatbot. Therefore, I believe that taking proactive steps is not too extreme."

Beijing on Thursday hit back against the ban, insisting the Chinese federal government "will never require business or people to illegally collect or save information".

"China has constantly opposed the generalisation of national security and the politicisation of financial, trade and technological concerns," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.

Beijing would likewise "firmly protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," Guo promised.

- 'Complex competition' -

DeepSeek says it uses less-advanced H800 chips-- allowed for sale to China up until 2023 under US export controls-- to power its big learning model.

South Korean chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are essential suppliers of sophisticated chips utilized in AI servers.

The federal government announced on Wednesday an extra 34 trillion won ($23.5 billion) investment in semiconductors and modern industries, with the country's acting president urging Korean tech business to remain versatile.

"Recently, a Chinese business unveiled the AI design DeepSeek R1, which offers high performance at a low expense, making a fresh effect in the market," acting President Choi Sang-mok said Wednesday.

"The global AI competitors may develop from an easy infrastructure scale-up rivalry to a more complex competition that consists of software capabilities and other elements."

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