South Korea has moved to block access to Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek due to concerns over potential data collection. The decision, announced Wednesday, was made by the country's foreign and trade ministries.
People familiar with the knowledge informed Yonhap that access to the service has been blocked on ministry computers connected to external networks, displaying a message stating, "Access is restricted" when users attempt to visit the site.
The day before, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety sent a letter to government agencies urging caution when using AI services such as DeepSeek and ChatGPT. Meanwhile, Kakao Corporation, South Korea's internet giant, restricted the use of AI services from Chinese startups for business purposes, a move echoed by telecom provider LG Uplus.
