Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 31, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
Taiwan's government advises against using DeepSeek AI due to security concerns linked to its Chinese origin, aiming to prevent information security risks.
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's digital ministry said on Friday that government departments should not use Chinese startup DeepSeek's artificial intelligence (AI) service, saying that as the product is from China it represents a security concern.
Democratically-governed Taiwan has long been wary of Chinese tech given Beijing's sovereignty claims over the island and its military and political threats against the government in Taipei.
In a statement, Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs said that government departments are not allowed to use DeepSeek's AI service to "prevent information security risks".
"DeepSeek's AI service is a Chinese product, and its operation involves cross-border transmission and information leakage and other information security concerns, and is a product that jeopardises the country's information security," the ministry said.
The ministry will continue to keep abreast of relevant technological developments and make "timely adjustments" to its information security policies in order to safeguard security, it added.
Earlier on Friday, South Korea's information privacy watchdog said it plans to ask DeepSeek about how the personal information of users is managed.
Authorities in France, Italy and Ireland and other countries have also been looking into DeepSeek's use of personal data.
By Monday, DeepSeek's free AI assistant had overtaken U.S. rival ChatGPT in downloads from Apple's app store and global investors dumped U.S. tech stocks, wiping $593 billion off chipmaker Nvidia's market value in a record one-day loss for any company on Wall Street.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Frances Kerry)
Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs stated that government departments should not use DeepSeek's AI service to prevent information security risks due to concerns about cross-border transmission and information leakage.
The warning reflects Taiwan's longstanding wariness of Chinese technology, especially given Beijing's sovereignty claims and military threats against the island.
South Korea's information privacy watchdog plans to inquire about DeepSeek's management of personal information, while authorities in France, Italy, and Ireland are also investigating its use of personal data.
DeepSeek's free AI assistant recently surpassed U.S. rival ChatGPT in downloads from Apple's app store, leading to significant losses in U.S. tech stocks, including a $593 billion drop in Nvidia's market value.
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