Germany formalized a request to Google and Apple on Friday (27) to remove the Chinese startup Deepseek Artificial Intelligence Application (AI) from its digital stores.
In the announcement, Germany’s data protection commissioner, Meike Kamp, said the decision arises after the discovery that the company behind the AI model illegally transfers users’ personal data to China.
According to the statement, the two giants of US technology should analyze the request “immediately” and decide whether to block the application in Germany.
“Deepseek has not been able to provide my agency convincing evidence that data from German users are protected in China at a level equivalent to that of the European Union. Chinese authorities have long -reach access rights within the sphere of influence of Chinese companies,” Kamp said.
Months before making the decision, Germany contacted DeepSeek, asking for transparency about compliance with data transfers outside the EU. However, the Chinese company refused to fulfill the request.
Earlier this year, Italy blocked the application in the application stores in the country, on the grounds that not disseminated sufficient information to clarify how users’ personal data is processed in China. The Netherlands also prohibited the use of the Chinese model on government devices.
Deepseek helped the Chinese regime collect information on military intelligence, says authority
A US authority revealed to Reuters Agency Earlier this week Deepseek is assisting the Chinese regime in military and intelligence operations.
In addition, the company was able to circumvent the American technology restrictions imposed by the US government with facade companies.
“We have evidence that DeepSeek has voluntarily provided and will probably continue to support China’s military and intelligence operations,” Reuters. One of the ways of assistance would be in sharing user information and statistics with Beijing’s surveillance apparatus.
According to the American source, DeepSeek would also be employing “alternative solutions” to US export controls to gain access to advanced chips, despite a 2022 restriction by the US government.
“Deepseek has tried to use southeastern facade companies to escape export controls, and is trying to access data centers in Southeast Asia to access remotely US chips,” said the top employee.
The Chinese startup announced in January the development of AI models that would be more advanced or would be at the same level as the models created by Americans, such as OpenAi and Meta, at a reduced cost, which caused a widespread commotion in the technology market.
