Germany is pressuring Apple and Google to pull the Chinese AI app DeepSeek from their app marketplaces over serious data privacy concerns.
Earlier this year, DeepSeek AI made headlines after it briefly topped the U.S. App Store charts, overtaking OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Despite being developed with a modest $5.6 million budget and using around 2,000 Nvidia H800 GPUs, the app’s success was quickly clouded by controversy.
The concerns? DeepSeek’s responses are reportedly filtered by the Chinese government, and its privacy policy reveals that it stores user data – including prompts and uploaded content – on servers located in China. Under Chinese intelligence laws, authorities can access this information freely.
Now, Germany’s top data privacy regulator, Meike Kamp, has formally requested that Apple and Google remove DeepSeek from their German storefronts. She stated, “DeepSeek has not been able to provide my agency with convincing evidence that German users’ data is protected in China to a level equivalent to that in the European Union.”
Other countries have already taken action. Italy and South Korea have pulled DeepSeek from their app stores, and the Netherlands has banned it from use on government-issued devices.
Kamp first gave DeepSeek the option to comply with EU data transfer rules back in May. The company did not respond or voluntarily remove the app, prompting the regulator to escalate the issue. While Apple and Google have yet to decide, they have received no formal deadline.
The issue extends beyond Europe. A Reuters report suggests DeepSeek may be supporting Chinese military and intelligence operations. In response, U.S. lawmakers are drafting legislation to ban federal agencies from using any Chinese-developed AI tools – DeepSeek included. For now, Americans can still download the app from the App Store or Play Store, but that may soon change.
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