AsianFin --- A few Japanese companies, including Toyota, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and SoftBank, have prohibited the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) developed by Chinese AI startup DeepSeek due to concerns over information leaks.

"There are concerns from an information security perspective, so we have prohibited its use," Toyota said in a statement.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has also imposed a similar ban on the Chinese AI model, and even if an internal request for application is made, it will not be approved at this time.

SoftBank has restricted access from within the company and banned downloading and using the model on business terminals.

An anonymous executive from a large materials manufacturer that has banned DeepSeek said, "Unlike generative AI such as Microsoft's from the United States, which is used in business, we believe the risks are higher."

A large housing manufacturer explained their ban by stating, "We have discussed the risks of information leaks and the potential for data to be used for AI training."

With DeepSeek's rise in popularity, several countries and regions have taken measures to restrict the use of the model.

On January 30, Italy blocked DeepSeek citing privacy concerns. On January 31, Taiwan announced a ban on its use by its agencies and critical infrastructure. On February 4, Australia banned the use of DeepSeek services on government devices, citing national security concerns. On February 5, several government departments in South Korea began blocking DeepSeek.

Meanwhile, according to Nikkei Asia, the leading figure in AI research in Japan, Matsuo Yutaka, a professor from the University of Tokyo, said that DeepSeek is excellent and its performance is comparable to that of OpenAI. Every time DeepSeek releases a new AI model, it publishes papers that detail the technologies used in the model.

He noted that in the AI competition, China's AI level is quite high and can rival that of the United States, adding that China has many other strong companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu, with numerous talented engineers.  As AI continues to be developed and applied, the emergence of a powerful company like DeepSeek is not surprising, he remarked.