South Korea’s defence ministry has blocked access to the DeepSeek AI tool on military computers due to security concerns. This move adds South Korea to the growing list of countries and companies restricting access to the Chinese AI tool.

South Korea's defence ministry has blocked access to the DeepSeek artificial intelligence tool on ministry computers used for military purposes, an official said on Thursday.

South Korea has restricted Chinese AI startup DeepSeek from accessing work computers across defense and trade ministries. This follows a request from Seoul's data watchdog to clarify data

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's industry ministry has temporarily banned employee access to Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek due to security concerns, a ministry official said on Wednesday, as the government urges caution on generative AI services.

South Korea’s defence, foreign and trade ministries have restricted officials’ access to the service on government computers, Yonhap News reported, citing multiple sources it did not identify.

South Korea's defence and trade ministries have restricted access to DeepSeek's work computers after concerns about data management practices. Following an inquiry from the data watchdog, military and trade agencies temporarily blocked the AI startup.

The defence and trade ministries cited concerns over data privacy following similar moves by Italy and Australia.