Italy’s data protection authority on Thursday blocked access to the Chinese AI application DeepSeek to protect users' data and announced an investigation into the companies behind the chatbot. The authority,

Rome: Italy's Data Protection Agency on Thursday launched an investigation into the AI chatbot of Chinese startup DeepSeek and said it had blocked it from processing Italian users' data.

The jury is still out on whether the Chinese AI upstart DeepSeek is a game changer or part of an elaborate plan by its hedge fund parent company to short

The country’s data watchdog says the firm gave it ‘completely insufficient’ answers to questions about what it does with user information.

DeepSeek, a Chinese AI chatbot, swiftly rose to the top of app stores this week, and it's just as swiftly rising in priority for data protection watchdog agencies worldwide.

Hours after Italian authorities requested information from DeepSeek about how the company handles user data, the Chinese AI startup's app is no longer

Italy's data protection authority said on Tuesday it was seeking answers from Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) model DeepSeek on its use of personal data.

DeepSeek, the controversial Chinese AI chatbot, is no longer available for download in Italy and Ireland. Both countries pulled the app from Apple and Google stores on Jan. 29, accusing the company of dodging questions about its handling of personal data and causing fears of Chinese government access to user information.

DeepSeek AI disappears from Italy’s app stores as regulators question its data practices and concerns grow over user privacy.

DeepSeek app has vanished from the Italian App Store and Google Play Store since the country's data watchdog filed a privacy complaint.

Italy's data protection authority said on Thursday it had blocked Chinese artificial intelligence model DeepSeek over a lack of information on its use of personal data. The authority, known as Garante,