What the DeepSeek bans taught about choosing a model

In short: the government actions against DeepSeek in early 2025 targeted where data went and which government could reach it, not the model’s ability. Choosing a model is three questions: how well it does your task on your own tests, where your data goes and under which jurisdiction, and who carries the legal obligations. Capability is only the first.^1,2

In January 2025 the Chinese developer DeepSeek released a capable, low-cost model with open weights, alongside a hosted consumer app. Governments responded to the app within days. On January 30, 2025 Italy’s data protection authority ordered a limit on the processing of Italian users’ data. NASA blocked the service on its systems and employees’ devices on January 31. Australia blocked it on all government devices, Taiwan barred government departments from using it, and a South Korean ministry and its nuclear power operator blocked it on staff devices.^1,2