Blocked! DeepSeek AI Model Forced Out Of Apple And Google App Stores In This Country | Tech News

Last Updated:June 30, 2025, 11:01 IST

DeepSeek AI has been cornered for its data sharing policies that puts millions of users at risk and the regulators are not ready to take the risk.

Apple and Google app stores have been ordered to block the app

China’s DeepSeek AI model faces more issues as Google and Apple have been ordered to take down the R1 app from the app stores in Germany. The AI app competing with ChatGPT and Gemini AI has been allegedly sending user data back to servers in China which has got the authorities in many parts of the world worried about the privacy of their users.

Germany is the latest from the European contingent to spark these concerns and ordered the tech giant to take them off their App Store and Play Store, respectively. 

The European Privacy Shield 

So why is DeepSeek facing issues in Germany and other European countries? It mainly has to do with the stringent data protection laws that make it hard for tech companies to flout their privacy policies. Meta is one of the biggest examples of how the EU laws prohibit its advertising stance. 

Instagram and Facebook have been blocked from targeted ads and if people want to stop seeing ads, they need to pay to use these services in the EU regions. Coming back to DeepSeek, reports say the regulators are not sure about how the user data is handled in China, and that authorised access to the data makes them feel uncomfortable. 

The trouble for DeepSeek could widen after Germany as other EU countries could follow the same model and block the access for the app for its users. The Chinese AI model is gradually being limited to its home market and it is imperative that its data sharing policies are revised otherwise its access in other regions will be negligible. 

More DeepSeek Power Coming

DeepSeek is widely expected to release the new R2 AI model soon. According to reports from China, the new DeepSeek AI model is going to be cheaper and much better, making the more expensive ChatGPT 4o look like a costly affair. 

We have already seen the abilities of the R1 and V3 models, and it seems the R2 version is likely to take reasoning to another level. The ongoing US-China tariff war is also going to be in the spotlight as the latter looks to build its own AI empire.

S Aadeetya

S Aadeetya, Special Correspondent at News18 Tech, accidentally got into journalism 10 years ago, and since then, has been part of established media houses covering the latest trends in technology and helping fr…Read More

S Aadeetya, Special Correspondent at News18 Tech, accidentally got into journalism 10 years ago, and since then, has been part of established media houses covering the latest trends in technology and helping fr… Read More

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