Czech Republic Bans Chinese AI Startup DeepSeek Over Cybersecurity Concerns

Czechia warns that DeepSeek can share all user information with the Chinese government

U.S. lawmakers issued similar warnings after the China-based AI company released its eponymous chatbot. The country occasionally known as the Czech Republic has banned DeepSeek over concerns about its large language model (LLM) and eponymous chatbot sharing information with the Chinese government. DeepSeek was founded in 2023, but it didn't attract many headlines until the global launch of iOS and Android apps in January. The company said its LLM offered numerous advantages over its Western rivals, including more efficient resource usage borne from low-level optimizations, and it didn't take long for its app to dethrone ChatGPT from the App Store's rankings. U.S. lawmakers were quick to warn that DeepSeek represented a national security risk due to its ties to the Chinese government. Czechia is now following suit and will be limiting access to the company's wares. The National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NÚKIB) said in a July 9 report (hat-tip The Record ) that "based on facts established during the exercise of its powers, supplemented by unclassified and classified information obtained from domestic and foreign partners, [it] concluded that the use of [DeepSeek's products] constitutes a cyber security threat." NÚKIB's report cites various Chinese regulations, including the National Security Law, National Intelligence Law, and Counter-Espionage Law, among others, as cause for concern because they all require China-based companies to make certain information about their users available to the Chinese government regardless of where the users themselves are located. The agency also notes that DeepSeek and its parent company High-Flyer have "deeper ties to the [Chinese] government," which has conducted numerous espionage campaigns against Czechia. It's not alone: CrowdStrike said in its latest Global Threat Report that in 2024 "China-nexus adversaries continued to operate in every sector and region across the globe, maintaining the scope of these operations while increasing their scale." This all led NÚKIB to conclude that "given the previous espionage activities, actions against the national interests of EU Member States and NATO Allies, the specifics of PRC legislation described above and the influence of the PRC government in Chinese companies, it is highly likely that the PRC will use the capabilities of DeepSeek's products for intelligence activities." So it's banning the use of DeepSeek's products in most circumstances. Exceptions have been carved out for security researchers as well as DeepSeek's open source models -- provided they can't interact with the company's servers. That means Czech people and organizations will have to self-host the models rather than relying on DeepSeek's infrastructure. Czechia isn't alone in this ban: NÚKIB noted that similar restrictions on DeepSeek usage have been placed in New York, Texas, and Virginia as well as Australia, Canada, Denmark, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, and Taiwan. (It's also been banned by the U.S. Navy and NASA; broader efforts to block it from the U.S. outright began in February.) "Given the composition of this group of countries," NÚKIB said, "it is clear that the concerns about DeepSeek's products do not stem solely from a shared cultural environment or the geographical location of these countries, but they are rather a response following an objective identification and evaluation of the risk posed by these products. Moreover, it is almost certain that other countries will introduce measures against DeepSeek's products in the coming months."

Czech government bans DeepSeek usage in public administration

PRAGUE, July 9 (Reuters) - The Czech government has banned the country's public administration from using any of the services of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek due to data security concerns, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Wednesday. The move follows various restrictions on DeepSeek in other countries including Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, driven by concerns about data protection. "The government decided on a ban on usage of AI products, applications, solutions, web pages and web services provided by DeepSeek within the Czech public administration," Fiala told a news conference shown live. Fiala said that, as a Chinese company, DeepSeek was obliged to cooperate with Chinese government bodies, which could give Beijing access to data stored on DeepSeek's servers in China. DeepSeek and the Chinese embassy in Prague did not immediately respond to requests for comment. DeepSeek shook the technology world in January with claims that it had developed an AI model to rival those from U.S. firms such as ChatGPT creator OpenAI at much lower cost. However, it has come under scrutiny in the United States and Europe for its data security policies. According to its own privacy policy, DeepSeek stores numerous pieces of personal data, such as requests to its AI programme or uploaded files, on computers in China. Reporting by Jan Lopatka. Editing by Mark Potter Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Cybersecurity

Czech Republic bans Chinese AI startup DeepSeek in government work

The move follows similar steps by some other countries, including Italy and Australia. The Czech Republic has banned the use of any products by the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek in state administration over cybersecurity concerns, authorities said Wednesday. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the government acted after receiving a warning from the national cybersecurity watchdog. The watchdog flagged a threat of unauthorised access to users' data because DeepSeek is obliged to cooperate with Chinese state authorities. The move follows similar steps made by some other countries that aimed to protect users' data, including Italy, which in January blocked access to the chatbot, as well as Australia. Last month, a German privacy official called on Apple and Google to ban DeepSeek from its app stores over privacy concerns. The Czech government has distanced itself from some Chinese technology in recent years. In 2018, it stopped using the hardware and software made by telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE after a warning they posed a security threat. DeepSeek was founded in 2023 in Hangzhou, China, and released its first AI large language model later that year.

The Czech Republic bans DeepSeek in state administration over cybersecurity concerns

PRAGUE -- The Czech Republic has banned the use of any products by the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek in state administration over cybersecurity concerns, authorities said Wednesday. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the government acted after receiving a warning from the national cybersecurity watchdog, which noted a threat of unauthorized access to users data because the firm is obliged to cooperate with Chinese state authorities. The move follows similar steps made by some other countries that aimed to protect users' data, including Italy, which in January blocked access to the chatbot, and also Australia. The Czech government in 2018 stopped using the hardware and software made by Chinese telecoms company Huawei and another Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE, after a warning they posed a security threat. DeepSeek was founded in 2023 in Hangzhou, China, and released its first AI large language model later that year.

The Czech Republic bans DeepSeek in state administration over cybersecurity concerns

PRAGUE (AP) -- The Czech Republic has banned the use of any products by the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek in state administration over cybersecurity concerns, authorities said Wednesday. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the government acted after receiving a warning from the national cybersecurity watchdog, which noted a threat of unauthorized access to users data because the firm is obliged to cooperate with Chinese state authorities. The move follows similar steps made by some other countries that aimed to protect users' data, including Italy, which in January blocked access to the chatbot, and also Australia. The Czech government in 2018 stopped using the hardware and software made by Chinese telecoms company Huawei and another Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE, after a warning they posed a security threat. DeepSeek was founded in 2023 in Hangzhou, China, and released its first AI large language model later that year.

The Czech Republic Bans DeepSeek in State Administration Over Cybersecurity Concerns

PRAGUE (AP) -- The Czech Republic has banned the use of any products by the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek in state administration over cybersecurity concerns, authorities said Wednesday. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the government acted after receiving a warning from the national cybersecurity watchdog, which noted a threat of unauthorized access to users data because the firm is obliged to cooperate with Chinese state authorities. The move follows similar steps made by some other countries that aimed to protect users' data, including Italy, which in January blocked access to the chatbot, and also Australia. The Czech government in 2018 stopped using the hardware and software made by Chinese telecoms company Huawei and another Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE, after a warning they posed a security threat. DeepSeek was founded in 2023 in Hangzhou, China, and released its first AI large language model later that year. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Czech Republic bans DeepSeek in state administration over cybersecurity concerns - The Economic Times

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the government acted after receiving a warning from the national cybersecurity watchdog, which noted a threat of unauthorised access to users data because the firm is obliged to cooperate with Chinese state authorities.The Czech Republic has banned the use of any products by the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek in state administration over cybersecurity concerns, authorities said Wednesday. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the government acted after receiving a warning from the national cybersecurity watchdog, which noted a threat of unauthorised access to users data because the firm is obliged to cooperate with Chinese state authorities. The move follows similar steps made by some other countries that aimed to protect users' data, including Italy, which in January blocked access to the chatbot, and also Australia. The Czech government in 2018 stopped using the hardware and software made by Chinese telecoms company Huawei and another Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE, after a warning they posed a security threat. DeepSeek was founded in 2023 in Hangzhou, China, and released its first AI large language model later that year.

The Czech Republic bans DeepSeek in state administration over cybersecurity concerns

PRAGUE -- The Czech Republic has banned the use of any products by the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek in state administration over cybersecurity concerns, authorities said Wednesday. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the government acted after receiving a warning from the national cybersecurity watchdog, which noted a threat of unauthorized access to users data because the firm is obliged to cooperate with Chinese state authorities. The move follows similar steps made by some other countries that aimed to protect users' data, including Italy, which in January blocked access to the chatbot, and also Australia. The Czech government in 2018 stopped using the hardware and software made by Chinese telecoms company Huawei and another Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE, after a warning they posed a security threat. DeepSeek was founded in 2023 in Hangzhou, China, and released its first AI large language model later that year.