US and Allied Countries Face Off Against China Over DeepSeek
Security Concerns Lead to US 'Ban Act' Proposal
Korean Government and Companies Join Blocking Trend
A war is unfolding between China and the United States and its allied countries over China’s generative artificial intelligence (AI) ‘DeepSeek.’ Despite explanations from the Chinese government, countries are blocking access one after another citing security concerns. While Italy has blocked the download of DeepSeek itself, the United States is preparing to introduce the ‘DeepSeek Ban Act.’ The South Korean government and companies are also joining this trend.
On the 6th (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Republican Representative Darin LaHood (Illinois) and Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer (New Jersey) are scheduled to introduce a bill on the 7th to block the use of DeepSeek on government-owned devices.
If the bill passes, federal government agencies will be required to remove DeepSeek and all applications developed by DeepSeek’s parent company, Highflyer, from government-owned devices. Currently, in the United States, only some government agencies such as the Navy and NASA, as well as the state of Texas, have blocked DeepSeek.
DeepSeek has attracted attention as an AI model with low development costs and low power consumption but performance comparable to American companies. However, security concerns have grown following claims that DeepSeek contains code that transmits user information to China Mobile, a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company. The day before, Ivan Charinni, CEO of cybersecurity firm Perut Security, disclosed the results of decoding such code.
In response, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs attempted to calm the situation, stating, “We have never requested companies to collect or store data illegally, nor will we.” DeepSeek also issued a statement saying, “Recently, some fake accounts and baseless information have misled the public and caused confusion.”
Despite these explanations, countries around the world are blocking DeepSeek. Earlier, Italy completely blocked DeepSeek from app markets, and Australia, Taiwan, and Japan have banned the use of DeepSeek on government-owned devices.
South Korean government ministries and companies have also started blocking access to DeepSeek. Key ministries such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defense, and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy have restricted the use of DeepSeek on computers with external access, and financial authorities have also ordered blocks. Major securities firms have also blocked access to DeepSeek.
In the IT and telecommunications industry, SK Telecom and LG Uplus have blocked DeepSeek on their internal networks and advised employees to refrain from using it on personal PCs. Naver and Kakao maintain policies prohibiting the use of external AI services for work. Large hospitals such as Samsung Medical Center and Kangbuk Samsung Hospital have also completed blocking DeepSeek. Companies including Samsung Biologics, Yuhan Corporation, and Daewoong Pharmaceutical have restricted the use of DeepSeek within their organizations.
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