Security researchers have uncovered concerning code on the website of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company whose chatbot topped U.S. app downloads. This code appears to link user login information to China Mobile, a state-owned telecom company barred from operating in the U.S. The discovery raises serious questions about data security and potential access by the Chinese government.
The website of DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence company whose chatbot became the most downloaded app in the United States, contains computer code that could send some user login information to a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company barred from operating in the United States. Security researchers discovered this concerning link while analyzing the DeepSeek chatbot's web login page.
They found heavily obfuscated computer script that, when deciphered, revealed connections to computer infrastructure owned by China Mobile, a state-owned telecommunications company. This code appears to be part of the account creation and user login process for DeepSeek. While DeepSeek's privacy policy acknowledges storing data on servers within the People's Republic of China, the discovery of this direct link to China Mobile raises new and more serious concerns about the potential for user data to be shared with the Chinese government. The U.S. has previously sanctioned China Mobile, citing close ties to the Chinese military, raising further alarm about the implications of this code. DeepSeek and China Mobile did not respond to emails seeking comment. This development comes amid growing concerns about the security implications of Chinese-controlled digital services. Last year, U.S. lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to force ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of the popular video-sharing app TikTok, to divest or face a nationwide ban. Although the app received a temporary reprieve from President Donald Trump, the incident highlights the ongoing debate surrounding the potential risks posed by Chinese technology companies. The code linking DeepSeek to China Mobile was first identified by Feroot Security, a Canadian cybersecurity company, which shared its findings with The Associated Press. The AP independently verified these findings with a second set of computer experts. While no data transfer to China Mobile was observed during tests in North America, researchers could not rule out the possibility of data being transferred for some users. This analysis only applies to the web version of DeepSeek; the mobile version remains one of the most downloaded apps on both Apple and Google app stores
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