DeepSeek AI suspends new sign-ups following major cyberattack
What's the story
Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) platform DeepSeek has temporarily halted new user registrations on its DeepSeek-V3 chat platform following a major cyberattack.
The company was forced to limit sign-ups to only those with mainland China phone numbers.
The move comes after DeepSeek's AI Assistant app overtook ChatGPT as the most downloaded app on Apple's App Store.
Company statement
DeepSeek's response to the cyberattack
In the wake of the cyberattack, DeepSeek released a statement on its status page: "Due to large-scale malicious attacks on DeepSeek's services, we are temporarily limiting registrations to ensure continued service. Existing users can log in as usual. Thanks for your understanding and support."
While no specific details of the attack were revealed, DeepSeek appears to be facing a DDoS attack against its API and web chat platform.
Security concerns
DeepSeek's security under scrutiny amid cyberattack
Despite the ongoing attack, users can still access DeepSeek by logging in with their Google accounts.
This would require sharing personal information such as name, email address, language preference, and profile picture with DeepSeek.
Meanwhile, cybersecurity firm KELA reported that it was able to exploit the model to produce harmful outputs.
"KELA has observed that while DeepSeek R1 bears similarities to ChatGPT, it is significantly more vulnerable," reads KELA's report.
Market impact
DeepSeek's AI model disrupts US tech market
DeepSeek recently made headlines with its advanced AI model, which reportedly matches or surpasses the capabilities of models from US tech giants at a significantly lower cost.
The development triggered a substantial sell-off in the US stock market, with NVIDIA Corporation's shares alone losing a record $589 billion in stock-market value on Monday.
DeepSeek's sudden rise has not just intensified competition in the generative AI sector but also affected global financial markets.