Apple Inc. and Google’s Android have been warned by a top German privacy regulator that the Chinese AI service DeepSeek, available on their app stores, constitutes illegal content because it exposes users’ data to Chinese authorities.

This is not DeepSeek's first run-in with regulators in Europe, following run-ins with Italian and Irish authorities.

Germany's data protection commissioner has asked Apple and Google to remove Chinese AI startup DeepSeek from their app stores in the country due to concerns about data protection, following a similar crackdown elsewhere.