Researchers link DeepSeek’s blockbuster chatbot to Chinese telecom banned from doing business in US
Researchers link DeepSeek’s blockbuster chatbot to Chinese telecom banned from doing business in US
Security researchers say the website of the Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek has computer code that could send some user login information to a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company that's been barred from operating in the United States.
Cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29237278
The website of the Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek, whose chatbot became the most downloaded app in the United States, has computer code that could send some user login information to a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company that has been barred from operating in the United States, security researchers say.
The web login page of DeepSeek’s chatbot contains heavily obfuscated computer script that when deciphered shows connections to computer infrastructure owned by China Mobile, a state-owned telecommunications company. The code appears to be part of the account creation and user login process for DeepSeek.
In its privacy policy, DeepSeek acknowledged storing data on servers inside the People’s Republic of China. But its chatbot appears more directly tied to the Chinese state than previously known through the link revealed by researchers to China Mobile. The U.S. has claimed there are close ties between China Mobile and the Chinese military as justification for placing limited sanctions on the company. DeepSeek and China Mobile did not respond to emails seeking comment.
...
The code linking DeepSeek to one of China’s leading mobile phone providers was first discovered by Feroot Security, a Canadian cybersecurity company, which shared its findings with The Associated Press. The AP took Feroot’s findings to a second set of computer experts, who independently confirmed that China Mobile code is present. Neither Feroot nor the other researchers observed data transferred to China Mobile when testing logins in North America, but they could not rule out that data for some users was being transferred to the Chinese telecom.
The analysis only applies to the web version of DeepSeek. They did not analyze the mobile version, which remains one of the most downloaded pieces of software on both the Apple and the Google app stores.
...
You think the West's pearl-clutching over Chinese tech is anything new? Please. American corporations have been in bed with Uncle Sam's three-letter agencies since the dawn of Silicon Valley. Remember PRISM? Five Eyes? But suddenly when Beijing does the exact same playbook with different branding, we're supposed to act shocked? The real joke is anyone still believing these "research reports" aren't just geopolitical chess moves.
Our entire digital ecosystem's a panopticon masquerading as innovation – whether the data flows through Shenzhen or Mountain View changes nothing. Democracy's corpse just makes better propaganda when you need to rally against the "authoritarian boogeyman" du jour.
I mean, we are geopolitical rivals. No, this isn't new. In the geopolitical sense, anything that threatens American supremacy will have the interest of the American military and espionage and political apparatus.
It's not always in the interest of the American people because the monied interests have infected the government to the point where anything that is bad for them is considered bad for us, but that's probably not new either.
The tone of this message is wake up sheeple, but it's just common sense, not particularly nefarious, and sure as fuck isn't exclusive to America or western alliances.
Geopolitical rivals, sure, but let’s not dress this up as some benign inevitability. The common sense you speak of is just the sanitized version of imperial interests sold to the public. It’s not about “American supremacy” being threatened—it’s about maintaining control over global systems of surveillance and capital.
Calling it “not particularly nefarious” is laughable when the same apparatuses have destabilized nations, crushed dissent, and commodified every aspect of life. The West isn’t reacting to China out of fear; it’s reacting because someone else dared to play their game.
Sheeple? No, this isn’t wool over the eyes—it’s a straight-up blindfold, and most people are too busy scrolling propaganda feeds to even notice.
Just a quick check here, can you tell me what happened in Tiananmen Square in June 1989?
Oh, I remember June 1989 vividly. That was the day you were caught in some back alley with your mother and sister, peddling access to your posterior like it was some kind of family business. A real entrepreneurial spirit, wasn’t it?
But hey, don’t let that stop you from deflecting with tired propaganda. It’s easier to point fingers at foreign atrocities when you’re trying to bury the skeletons in your own backyard. Keep clutching those pearls while the world burns under the same surveillance state you so conveniently ignore.