South Korea has halted new downloads of China's DeepSeek AI chatbot due to privacy concerns, as announced by the country's data protection watchdog. The ban will remain until "improvements and remedies" are made to comply with South Korean privacy laws.

DeepSeek soared to the top of app stores in South Korea, attracting over a million users within a week of its global debut. However, this rapid rise also drew scrutiny from various countries, leading to restrictions based on privacy and national security concerns.

South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission confirmed the app's removal from Apple's App Store and Google Play on Saturday evening. The ban followed directives from multiple government agencies prohibiting employees from downloading the chatbot on work devices. Acting President Choi Sang-mok described DeepSeek as a "shock" that could impact industries beyond AI.

Despite the ban on new downloads, existing users can continue using DeepSeek or access it via the website.

DeepSeek's rise as a leading AI chatbot has sparked global concerns. Besides South Korea, Taiwan and Australia have also banned it from government devices. The Australian government cited "unacceptable risk" to national security, not the app's Chinese origins. Italy's regulator, which briefly banned ChatGPT in 2023, has similarly restricted DeepSeek.

The company must address privacy policy concerns to return to app stores. Data protection authorities in France and Ireland have questioned DeepSeek about data storage on Chinese servers and collection practices.

In the US, lawmakers proposed a bill banning DeepSeek from federal devices, citing surveillance concerns. States like Texas, Virginia, and New York have already introduced such rules for their employees.

DeepSeek's large language model (LLM) rivals US models like OpenAI's but at a fraction of the cost, raising questions about AI infrastructure investments in the US and beyond.
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