DeepSeek now in sights of EU data protection watchdogs

DeepSeek rocked the AI world after it was claimed to have been developed at the fraction of the cost of OpenAI’s ChatGPT – while also being able to run on far less powerful hardware.

Italy’s data protection authority has slapped DeepSeek with a temporary ban, ordering its removal from app stores until it provides answers to questions about how it processes users’ data.

It previously imposed a similar ban on ChatGPT for about a month in spring 2023.

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) told our sister publication Irish Legal News that it has “written to DeepSeek requesting information on the data processing conducted in relation to data subjects in Ireland”.

Dr Barry Scannell, a partner at Irish law firm William Fry and a leading expert on AI law, wrote on LinkedIn: “While the DPC is the lead EU regulator for many US tech firms due to their European headquarters being in Ireland, DeepSeek has no such establishment within the bloc, making enforcement more difficult.

“DeepSeek has 20 days to respond to the Italian regulator’s inquiries. If it fails to comply, it could face further sanctions, including a ban across the EU.”