Kakao CEO Jeong Shin-ah poses for a commemorative photo with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at a press conference held at The Plaza Hotel Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 4th. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Leading South Korean companies and institutions are increasingly restricting the use of DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence model, amid concerns over its excessive data collection practices.
Kakao, which recently announced an official partnership with OpenAI, became the first major South Korean IT company to prohibit DeepSeek’s use for internal operations, according to industry sources on February 5.
The decision stems from security concerns about DeepSeek’s comprehensive collection of user device information, IP addresses, and keyboard input patterns, which are stored on servers in China.
LG Uplus followed suit, issuing a security advisory banning DeepSeek’s use on company networks. The telecommunications company recommended employees refrain from using DeepSeek even on personal computers until its security reliability is confirmed, and warned against inputting sensitive information for those insisting on using the service.
DeepSeek is a Chinese artificial intelligence company that develops open-source large language models (LLM). (Image: DeepSeek logo)
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, which handles nuclear power technology, posted an internal memo on February 1 prohibiting DeepSeek’s use. The company had already banned ChatGPT for work purposes due to nuclear security concerns and extended this restriction to DeepSeek as the Chinese AI service gained attention.
While Naver has reportedly begun discussions about banning DeepSeek internally, it has not yet issued any official restrictions. Ha Jung-woo, head of Naver’s Future AI Center, previously expressed concerns on social media about DeepSeek’s extensive data collection practices, including device information, keyboard patterns, and IP addresses being stored on security servers in China.
Major corporations like Samsung Electronics, SK, and LG Electronics already utilize their internally developed generative AI systems and prohibit the use of unauthorized external programs on company computers.
An industry insider noted, “Guidelines for generative AI use were established internally even before DeepSeek’s emergence. Given the significant distrust of Chinese AI models, it’s unlikely that companies will permit their use.”
Governments worldwide are taking precautionary measures against DeepSeek’s potential risks. Australia, Japan, Taiwan, and the U.S. state of Texas have banned DeepSeek on government devices, while Italy has completely blocked it from app markets. The United Kingdom and European Union member states are closely monitoring the platform’s security implications.
In response to growing concerns, South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission sent an official inquiry to DeepSeek’s headquarters in China on January 31, seeking clarification about its personal information collection procedures, processing methods, and storage practices.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
