The Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek could not be accessed on Wednesday in Apple and Google app stores in Italy, the day after the country's data protection authority requested information on its use of personal data.

ROME (Reuters) - The Chinese artifical intelligence application DeepSeek was not available on Wednesday in Apple and Google app stores in Italy. A notice to customers on iPhone's App Store said the app was "currently not available in the country or area you are in."

DeepSeek, a Hangzhou-based startup founded in 2023, shot to the top of Apple’s App Store free app chart after releasing a new open-source AI model it says rivals OpenAI's work. Its website was hit by outages amid a spike in interest.

But the shocking emergence of Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek could actually help Boston catch up. The free-of-charge app, launched last week, showed off conversational chops close to the level of ChatGPT,

The Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek became the most downloaded free app in the U.S. on Apple’s app store and its low cost claims are putting the pressure on major American tech companies.

An AI-powered chatbot by the Chinese company DeepSeek has quickly become the most downloaded free app on Apple's store, following its January release in the US. The app has sparked chaos in the US markets and raised questions about the future of America's AI dominance.

Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeep became the top-rated free app on Apple play store in the United States, leading to a crash in the US stock market.

DeepSeek, founded by Liang Wenfeng in 2023, rapidly gained attention by surpassing ChatGPT in the App Store. The AI startup's low-cost models challenge US firms, prompting fears about market share loss and the effectiveness of US export restrictions on AI technology.