THE HAGUE - Dutch civil servants are banned from using the Chinese AI app DeepSeek for their work, State Secretary Zsolt Szabó of Digitalization announced. He called the AI chatbot “an app that is sensitive to espionage,” NOS reports. 

DeepSeek is an AI chatbot where you can ask questions and give text commands, but you must first enter information yourself. It is believed that DeepSeek stores this information and shares it with the Chinese government. Many users also report communist censorship within the app, which seems to evade answering questions that are negative toward the Chinese government. 

Last week, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) urged Netherlands residents to be cautious with this app and use it with restraint, especially if they upload information about others to DeepSeek. “People would be wise to ask themselves whether they really want to enter personal and other sensitive data in this app,” the AP said. “If you upload data from other people, it ends up in the same place in China. Perhaps without the other person knowing about it, let alone agreeing to it. Such an unlawful transfer makes you liable.” 

DeepSeek has been available in the Apple and Google app stores since the start of this year. It is now the most downloaded free app on Apple, according to the broadcaster. Unlike with other AI chatbots like Chat GPT, users don’t have to take out a DeepSeek subscription to gain access to all its functions.