Italy’s data protection authority has imposed an immediate ban on Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek, citing data privacy violations and regulatory non-compliance.
The authority has ordered Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence and Beijing DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence, the companies behind the DeepSeek chatbot, to halt all processing of Italian user data with immediate effect.
The ban follows DeepSeek’s refusal to comply with a formal request for information from the Italian data protection authority.
“Contrary to our findings, the companies claim they do not operate in Italy and that European legislation does not apply to them,” the regulator stated, adding that DeepSeek’s response was deemed wholly inadequate.
An investigation into the company’s operations has now been launched.
DeepSeek has recently emerged as a strong competitor to OpenAI, Google’s Gemini, and other leading AI chatbots, claiming to have developed an advanced AI model at a fraction of the cost.
The release of DeepSeek’s AI technology sent shockwaves through the tech industry, leading to a sharp decline in US tech stocks earlier this week.
This is not the first time Italy has taken action against AI-powered chatbots. In 2023, Italy temporarily blocked OpenAI’s ChatGPT, citing data protection violations. OpenAI was later allowed to resume operations in Italy after meeting the regulator’s compliance requirements.
The latest ban highlights growing European scrutiny of AI firms, particularly regarding data privacy, compliance, and regulatory jurisdiction.
