The authority, known as the Garante, who for some reason we thought was the Witcher, had requested details on DeepSeek’s data practices, including what personal data is collected, its sources, purposes, legal basis, and whether it is stored in China.

However, the information provided by the Chinese companies behind DeepSeek was deemed “totally insufficient,” prompting the immediate ban and an official investigation. 

Following the decision, DeepSeek was no longer available for download on Apple and Google app stores in Italy.

The AI assistant, launched last week, had rapidly gained popularity, surpassing ChatGPT in downloads from Apple’s app store earlier this week and unsettling tech investors. 

DeepSeek has yet to respond to requests for comment on the ban. However, Garante is just one of the privacy watchdogs operating in the EU and they all enforce Europe’s GDPR.  This means that unless DeepSeek pulls its socks up it could be banned throughout the EU pretty smartish.