Italy's data protection authority, the Garante, has mandated the suspension of the DeepSeek AI chatbot due to privacy concerns. The Garante concluded that DeepSeek's responses regarding data collection were insufficient and misleading, prompting an investigation into the company's operations in Italy. The authority expressed fears that DeepSeek could exploit users' data for espionage and other harmful purposes. Despite DeepSeek's claim that it has removed the app from local app stores, it remains accessible to existing users, and its web service continues to operate in Italy. The ruling follows similar regulatory actions against other AI firms and highlights growing global scrutiny over data privacy practices in AI technologies. Other countries, including France and South Korea, are also launching investigations into DeepSeek's data policies. This emphasizes the ongoing tension between regulatory bodies and rapidly developing AI technologies, with significant implications for the industry.

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