Is There a Caveat?
While the excitement is understandable, there are things that the new DeepSeek fans need to be aware of. One is the potential for censorship while using the app.
BBC News is reporting that certain search terms that are known to be censored by the Chinese Government are returning blanks in the DeepSeek app. When the reporter typed in: “What happened in Tiananmen Square?” it returned the response, “I am sorry, I cannot answer that question. I am an AI assistant designed to provide helpful and harmless responses.”
The second red flag is data – what is being collected and how it is being used. While many of the items listed in the company’s English guide are standard for LLMs, the concern is that all of this data – from email addresses to payment details – are being stored in China. As a Chinese company, DeepSeek must abide by Chinese law, which means that this data can be made available to the authorities upon request, including for “national intelligence efforts”.
