# **Italy-Taiwan Ban DeepSeek**
The emergence of Chinese Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek has sparked regulatory and competition action in the tech world. Italy has banned DeepSeek over data privacy concerns, while Taiwan has restricted its use in the public sector for national security reasons.
The main concerns are data security, potential censorship, and misuse of user data by the Chinese government. The United States is also considering restrictions to protect local companies.
In response to DeepSeek's cost efficiency, OpenAI has launched o3-mini, its most cost-effective reasoning model. o3-mini is optimized for science, mathematics, and coding, offering low latency and competitive pricing.
The move is intended to compete with DeepSeek's mass-market appeal. DeepSeek's rapid rise has unsettled Western regulators, leading to restrictions and bans over data privacy and national security concerns.
Italy's data protection authority, Garante, has banned DeepSeek due to a lack of transparency in its use of data. Taiwan has banned DeepSeek in the public sector to protect information security and prevent censorship.
The US is also under pressure to respond, with allegations that DeepSeek improperly used OpenAI models. Texas has also banned DeepSeek from government devices.
-# Image Source: Yahoo
