China’s DeepSeek is a Deep Commo Spy! By Brian Simpson
The concerns about the almost certain spying activities of China's DeepSeek have moved now to mainstream tech blogs, such as Wired.com: https://www.wired.com/story/deepseek-ai-china-privacy-data/.This article discusses growing concerns over China's DeepSeek AI platform, which has rapidly gained popularity as an open-source generative AI rivalling U.S.-based models like OpenAI's. While its rise has sparked excitement, it has also triggered serious data privacy and national security concerns.
DeepSeek collects extensive user data—including chat history, device information, and keystroke patterns—and stores it on servers in China. This has raised alarms, particularly because China's cybersecurity laws require companies to cooperate with national intelligence efforts. The Pentagon recently blocked access to DeepSeek after U.S. defense employees unknowingly connected their work computers to the platform, potentially exposing sensitive information.
Additionally, the DeepSeek AI model has been accused of censorship, filtering out content critical of China. Some experts worry it could be used for propaganda or influence operations. The controversy echoes past concerns over Chinese-owned digital services like TikTok, raising the possibility of future regulatory action against AI platforms linked to China. Despite past bans, Americans continue to flock to Chinese-owned tech, showing the difficulty in limiting their influence.
Thus, the beat goes on and DeepSeek will be yet one more communist Chinese spying mechanism, like TikTok.
"China's DeepSeek rocked the world of AI this week, but beyond questions about how the company actually developed its model, fresh concerns about its data collection practices and potential national security implications are popping up.
Wired reports that the rapid rise of DeepSeek, a generative artificial intelligence platform created by a prominent Chinese hedge fund, has sparked both excitement and concern among industry experts and policymakers. The platform's open-source AI model has quickly gained traction, rivaling top US-based platforms like those developed by OpenAI. However, as more users flock to DeepSeek, the company's data collection practices and ties to China have come under increased scrutiny.
According to DeepSeek's privacy policy, the company explicitly states that it stores all collected user information on secure servers located in the People's Republic of China. This includes a wide range of data, such as user input, chat history, device information, and even keystroke patterns. The comprehensive nature of the data collection has raised eyebrows among privacy advocates, who warn against disclosing sensitive or personal information to AI chatbots.
Bloomberg reports that the Pentagon is rushing to block access to the tool after employees accessed it, potentially compromising security:
US Defense Department employees connected their work computers to Chinese servers to access DeepSeek's new AI chatbot for at least two days before the Pentagon moved to shut off access, according to a defense official familiar with the matter.
The Defense Information Systems Agency, which is responsible for the Pentagon's IT networks, moved to block access to the Chinese startup's website late Tuesday, the official and another person familiar with the matter said. Both asked not to be named because the information isn't public.
The platform's popularity surge has also brought to light instances of content censorship, with users reporting that DeepSeek has filtered out content critical of China or its policies. This has further fueled concerns about the potential for the platform to be used as a tool for propaganda or influence.
While DeepSeek's data collection practices are alarming, they are not entirely unique in the world of generative AI. Other platforms, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, have faced criticism for their data collection as well. However, the fact that DeepSeek's data is being stored in China has raised additional concerns due to the country's cybersecurity and privacy laws, which require organizations and citizens to cooperate with national intelligence efforts.
The rise of DeepSeek and the subsequent concerns over data privacy and national security have reignited the debate surrounding the regulation of Chinese-owned digital services in the United States. The recent ban on the Chinese-owned social video platform TikTok has highlighted the growing tensions between the two countries in the tech sector. Some experts suggest that similar regulatory action could be taken against AI firms in the future, with data collection being cited as a primary reason.
https://www.wired.com/story/deepseek-ai-china-privacy-data/
The United States' recent regulatory action against the Chinese-owned social video platform TikTok prompted mass migration to another Chinese app, the social platform "Rednote." Now, a generative artificial intelligence platform from the Chinese developer DeepSeek is exploding in popularity, posing a potential threat to US AI dominance and offering the latest evidence that moratoriums like the TikTok ban will not stop Americans from using Chinese-owned digital services.
DeepSeek, an AI research lab created by a prominent Chinese hedge fund, recently gained popularity after releasing its latest open source generative AI model that easily competes with top US platforms like those developed by OpenAI. However, to help avoid US sanctions on hardware and software, DeepSeek created some clever workarounds when building its models. On Monday, DeepSeek's creators limited new sign-ups after claiming the app had been overrun with a "large-scale malicious attack."
While DeepSeek has several AI models, some of which can be downloaded and run locally on your laptop, the majority of people will likely access the service through its iOS or Android apps or its web chat interface. Like with other generative AI models, you can ask it questions and get answers; it can search the web; or it can alternatively use a reasoning model to elaborate on answers.
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