Really? The best way to make everyone read a book is to BAN IT… (Hermione, Harry Potter)
DeepSeek AI ban: What’s going on and why it matters (Techcircle):
Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek that has rocked the global AI landscape by recently launching R1 LLM model, is facing crackdowns from several governments, including India, the US, Australia, Taiwan, and South Korea, due to concerns over its security and data practices, particularly on government devices.
Yeah… it’s (emerging to be) like Google blocked in China, but the other way around…
South Korean: South Korean ministries block DeepSeek on security concerns, officials say, (Reuters)
US: U.S. Navy bans use of DeepSeek due to ‘security and ethical concerns’ (CNBC). Also, Lawmakers Push to Ban DeepSeek App From U.S. Government Devices (WSJ)
Australia: DeepSeek banned from Australian government devices amid national security concerns (Guardian)
The list goes on, Italy, India, some states in the US, …
Interestingly, DeepSeek is released during the Chinese New Year Holiday. I’ve heard all of my AI/tech colleagues have had their most unsettling holiday so far.
Banning access to the DeepSeek website and mobile applications may sound simple, but there are challenges in the process believes experts. That’s because the DeepSeek LLM itself is open-source, blocking access to it is less straightforward, as it can be run locally on a device, it can be run through a cloud environment, and installed via various apps or frameworks like Ollama. It requires some extra leg-work for users to set-up, but it can be done, believes Satnam Narang, Senior Staff Research Engineer at Tenable.