Summary
- It was reported that the government and corporations issued a blockade order due to concerns about personal information collection by China's DeepSeek.
- The daily users of DeepSeek have plummeted due to security concerns, and new installations have also significantly decreased.
- In contrast, the daily users of ChatGPT have shown an increasing trend, surpassing DeepSeek.
Potential Information Leakage Raised
Government and Corporate DeepSeek Access Blockade Spreads
As the blocking of China's DeepSeek AI app spreads, its usage in the country has plummeted. This is attributed to concerns that DeepSeek collects extensive user information and that the Chinese government can access this data at any time, leading to a 'blockade order' from the government, public institutions, and corporations.
According to IGAWorks' Mobile Index on the 9th, the daily users of the DeepSeek app peaked at 191,556 on the 28th of last month and then sharply declined. On the 29th, it dropped to 132,781, and by the 30th, it fell to 96,751.
On the 4th, when the blocking movement centered around major government departments and corporations intensified, the daily users were only 74,688.
The surge in demand, driven by curiosity that a Chinese startup, a latecomer, surpassed ChatGPT at a low cost after DeepSeek shocked the global AI industry, seems to have been curbed by security concerns.
Particularly, the public warning against generative AI like DeepSeek by the government has frozen sentiment. On the 4th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety sent an official document to central ministries and 17 metropolitan governments, requesting caution in using generative AI like DeepSeek and ChatGPT. DeepSeek is criticized for excessively collecting user information during the AI learning process.
The number of new installations is also showing a sharp decline. DeepSeek's new installations peaked at 171,257 during the Lunar New Year holidays on the 28th of last month but shrank to one-third, 67,664, on the 29th.
The trend remains sluggish this month as well. On the 1st, there were 33,976 installations, 25,606 on the 2nd, 23,208 on the 3rd, and 20,452 on the 4th. On the 4th, when the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's advisory was issued, it plummeted to one-eighth compared to the 28th.
In contrast, OpenAI's ChatGPT daily users steadily increased from 605,574 on the 28th of last month to 739,957 on the 4th. In terms of new installations, DeepSeek (171,257) surpassed ChatGPT (30,971) on the 28th of last month, but on the 4th of this month, ChatGPT (26,985) overtook DeepSeek (20,452).
According to WiseApp Retail Analysis Service, DeepSeek ranked second with 1.21 million weekly users in the fourth week of last month, following ChatGPT.
Meanwhile, not only in Korea but also overseas, blockades against DeepSeek are continuing. European countries like Italy have completely blocked downloading DeepSeek from the Apple Store. The main reasons for the blockade are the location of DeepSeek's servers in China and the 'black box' nature of how the information input by users is processed. China has enacted laws such as the Network Security Law, Data Security Law, and Personal Information Protection Law, granting the authority to investigate corporate servers and data under the pretext of protecting national security and public interest.
O Jung-min, Hankyung.com reporter blooming@hankyung.com
Korea Economic Daily
hankyung@bloomingbit.ioThe Korea Economic Daily Global is a digital media where latest news on Korean companies, industries, and financial markets.
