India’s Bold AI Move: DeepSeek to Shift to Local Servers

India tackles data privacy fears by hosting DeepSeek AI locally.

In a move to tackle privacy concerns, India will soon host the Chinese AI app DeepSeek on local servers, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced Thursday. The decision aims to address growing fears surrounding cross-border data security.

“DeepSeek is open source, and we’ll host it on Indian servers soon. This will address the privacy concerns regarding cross-border data transfer,” Vaishnaw said during the announcement.

The Minister further emphasized India’s focus on AI safety and accessibility, hinting at the creation of a dedicated institution for AI oversight. “Making modern tech accessible to everyone, that is the economic thinking of our PM… Ours is the most affordable computing facility at this point of time,” he noted.

What Is DeepSeek?

Launched on January 20, DeepSeek is a Chinese AI chatbot gaining global traction, surpassing ChatGPT as the most downloaded free app on the Apple Store. Its R1 reasoning model requires just $5.6 million in computing power, significantly cheaper than OpenAI’s GPT-4, which costs around $100 million.

However, DeepSeek has faced criticism for censorship of content and privacy issues.

Privacy Controversy

DeepSeek’s terms of service reveal extensive data collection practices, including user inputs, chat history, and personal details. Notably, it mentions that user information may be stored in China.

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The app has drawn scrutiny globally, with former US President Donald Trump calling it a “wakeup call.” Australian Science Minister Ed Husic also urged caution, stating he would be “very careful” about the app’s data handling.

India’s decision to host DeepSeek locally is seen as a proactive measure to ensure AI innovation while safeguarding data privacy for its citizens.