The website of the Chinese Artificial Intelligence company Deepseek, whose chatbot has become the most downloaded application in the United States, contains computer code that can send some users’ login information to a state telecommunications company, which is prohibited from operating in the US , say security researchers.
The code that connects DeepSeek to China Mobile was discovered by Ferot Security and confirmed by other experts.
Although they have not observed data being transferred to China Mobile during login tests in North America, researchers do not rule out that this occurs with some users.
The DeepSek Chatbot Login page contains a strongly overshadowed computer script that, when deciphered, reveals connections to China Mobile’s computer infrastructure, a state telecommunications company. The code seems to be part of the user’s account and login process for DeepSeek.
In its privacy policy, DeepSeek has recognized to store data on servers located in China. However, his chatbot seems to be more directly linked to the Chinese state than previously known, through the connection revealed by the researchers with China Mobile.
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The US claims that there are close ties between China Mobile and the Chinese army, justifying the imposition of limited sanctions on the company. Deepseek and China Mobile did not respond to contact attempts.
The analysis applies only to the web version of Deepseek. They have not analyzed the mobile version, which remains one of the most downloaded software in Apple and Google app stores. Source: Associated Press.
