The website of the Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek, whose chatbot became the most downloaded app in the United States, has computer code that could send some user login information to a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company that has been barred from operating in the United States,

China's new open-source AI chatbot DeepSeek has stoked pride at home but prompted concerns about censorship and data security abroad.

China's AI chatbot DeepSeek is facing bans in India, the US, Australia, and several other nations over security risks. South Korea is the latest to block it, following Taiwan and Italy. Governments fear DeepSeek could compromise sensitive data,

Officials in South Korea and Australia have cited concerns about user data and national security as reasons to block the buzzy AI service from China.

South Korea’s defense ministry and the police on Thursday said they were blocking access to DeepSeek on work computers after the Chinese Artificial Intelligence, AI, startup did not respond to a data watchdog request about how it manages user information.