DeepSeek Continues To Disrupt the AI Sector
The temporary app store ban follows DeepSeek’s rapid growth in South Korea, with the chatbot recently topping app store charts and amassing over a million weekly users.
But DeepSeek isn’t only becoming a fan favorite in South Korea. The app experienced significant global growth in 2025 – attracting 278 million mobile and desktop visits in January 2025, compared to 12 million the month previous. This spike in interest is primarily due to DeepSeek’s unique large language model (LLM), which is capable of delivering high-quality AI features at a much lower cost than competitors like ChatGPT.
DeepSeek’s novel approach to artificial development has proved that global competitors such as China can create models that match the US at a fraction of the price, challenging the US’s market dominance, and causing what President Donald Trump described as a “wake-up call” for the tech industry.
DeepSeek’s Close Ties to the Chinese Government Sparks Concerns
While DeepSeek collects similar data to rivals – including names, text prompts, and IP addresses – its close tie with the Chinese government is what’s ringing alarm bells for many.
The Chinese government has the right to access data collected from international DeepSeek users, and is able to leverage whatever information it needs to “cooperate with national intelligence efforts.”
While this doesn’t necessarily mean the data will be used for nefarious purposes, the US government fears that data sensitive data could be exploited for surveillance or espionage purposes. Combine this with the accusations that the app is pushing Chinese propaganda, and it’s no surprise that lawmakers are approaching DeepSeek with caution.
