French privacy watchdog to quiz DeepSeek on AI, data protection
The Deepseek logo is seen in this illustration on Jan 29, 2025. (Image: Reuters/Dado Ruvic)
BRUSSELS: France's privacy watchdog said on Thursday (Jan 30) it will question DeepSeek to gain a better idea of how the Chinese startup's AI system works and any possible privacy risks for users.
DeepSeek attracted global attention after writing in a paper last month that the training of DeepSeek-V3 required less than US$6 million worth of computing power from Nvidia H800 chips.
"The CNIL's AI department is currently analysing this tool," a spokesperson for the French watchdog said.
"In order to better understand how this AI system works and the risks in terms of data protection, the CNIL will question the company that offers the DeepSeek chatbot," they added.
The French watchdog is one of the most active in Europe and has fined Google and Meta Platforms, among others.
Italy's data protection authority said earlier this week it was seeking answers from DeepSeek on its use of personal data, while Ireland's Data Protection Commission said it had requested information from the Chinese company about data processing conducted in relation to Irish users.
Europe has been particularly protective of privacy rights and its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive and stringent data privacy laws in the world.
GDPR breaches can lead to fines of up to 4 per cent of a company's total global turnover.
Last year, the 27-country European Union agreed to landmark rules that impose strict transparency obligations on high-risk AI systems and lighter ones for general-purpose AI models.
Fines for violations range from €7.5 million (US$7.8 million), or 1.5 per cent of turnover, to €35 million or 7 per cent of global turnover depending on the type of violations.
