Italy's digital information watchdog called for the government to block DeepSeek, China's new artificial intelligence chatbot after it said its company failed to turn over operation information to regulators.

Italy's data protection authority, the Garante, said on Thursday it had ordered DeepSeek to block its chatbot in the country after the Chinese artificial intelligence startup failed to address the regulator's concerns over its privacy policy.

Italy has become the first country to ban DeepSeek AI, with authorities citing data privacy and ethical concerns. The move follows an investigation launched into DeepSeek's compliance with European GDPR rules and global concerns about its safety.