South Korea has accused Chinese AI startup DeepSeek of sharing user data with the owner of TikTok in China. "We confirmed DeepSeek communicating with ByteDance," the South Korean data protection regulator told Yonhap News Agency. The country had already removed DeepSeek from app stores over the weekend over data protection concerns. The Chinese app caused shockwaves in the AI world in January, wiping billions off global stock markets over claims its new model was trained at a much lower cost than US rivals such as ChatGPT.
DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, has temporarily paused downloads of its chatbot apps in South Korea while it works with local authorities to address privacy concerns, South Korean officials said Monday. South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission said DeepSeek’s apps were removed from the local versions of Apple’s App Store and Google Play on Saturday evening and that the company agreed to work with the agency to strengthen privacy protections before relaunching the apps. The action does not affect users who have already downloaded DeepSeek on their phones or use it on personal computers. Nam Seok, director of the South Korean commission’s investigation division, advised South Korean users of DeepSeek to delete the app from their devices or avoid entering personal information into the tool until the issues are resolved.
China's artificial intelligence app DeepSeek has sent South Korean user data to ByteDance, the Chinese-owned parent company of TikTok, Seoul's authorities say. It's the first time a national regulator has confirmed the potential leak of user data from DeepSeek to a third party and comes a day after South Korea banned the use of the app citing security concerns. The South Korean Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) confirmed the warnings of some computer security experts, who flagged the possible transfer of personal data by DeepSeek to other entities without users consent. "We have confirmed DeepSeek communicating with ByteDance," a PIPC spokesperson told news agency Yonhap.
