DeepSeek took the AI industry by storm with its open-source R1 reasoning model. Although the initial days went well for the Chinese AI startup, that didn’t last long. Now, there are all sorts of reports about DeepSeek in the media, with most not being in its favor… for obvious reasons. As if that wasn’t enough, the DeepSeek app has reportedly vanished from the Italian App Store and Google Play Store.
The DeepSeek app is no longer available in the Italian App Store and Google Play Store
Yesterday, an Italian news agency, ANSA, reported that the DeepSeek app was no longer available in the country’s App Store and Google Play Store. The app appears to have vanished a day after Italy’s data watchdog, the Garante, filed a privacy complaint against DeepSeek. The complaint reportedly asked the Chinese AI startup to clarify how it handles users’ personal data.
If you go through this article, you’ll get an idea of why the Italian authority filed a complaint against DeepSeek. Keeping it short, the company collects all sorts of user data. Just to give you an idea, DeepSeek AI’s data tracking includes everything you type in the app. Scary… isn’t it?
Well, the Garante thinks the same and says that DeepSeek has 20 days to provide a clarification. However, the authority isn’t sure if the app’s disappearance from the App Store and Google Play Store has anything to do with its complaint. The Garante’s head, Pasquale Stanzione, told ANSA, “I don’t know if it’s bound to us or not, we asked for some information.”
The DeepSeek website is still working in the country
All that said, the DeepSeek website is up and running in Italy at the time of writing. Italian users who had already installed the DeepSeek app before the block are reportedly still able to use it. Italy isn’t the only European country to file a privacy complaint against DeepSeek; Belgium and Ireland have done that too.
