South Korea's industry ministry has temporarily blocked employee access to Chinese artificial intelligence startup, DeepSeek, a ministry official said, after it did not respond to a data watchdog request about how it manages user information.

The government earlier issued a notice calling on ministries and agencies to exercise caution about using AI services including DeepSeek and ChatGPT at work, officials said.

State-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power said it had blocked use of AI services including DeepSeek earlier this month.

The South Korean defence ministry has also blocked access to DeepSeek on its computers that are for military use, officials said on Thursday, and the foreign ministry has restricted access to DeepSeek in computers that connect to external networks, Yonhap News Agency said. The ministry said it cannot confirm specific security measures.

It was not immediately clear if the ministries had taken any actions against ChatGPT.

The ban makes South Korea the latest government to warn about or place restrictions on DeepSeek.

Australia banned DeepSeek this week from all government devices over concerns on how it uses data.

The launch by the Chinese startup of its latest AI models last month sent shockwaves through the tech world. The company says its models are on a par with or better than products developed in the United States and are produced at a fraction of the cost.

DeepSeek has said it used less-advanced H800 chips - permitted for sale to China until 2023 under US export controls - to power its large learning model.

Industry experts have also said the Hangzhou-based firm has embraced a more accessible, opensource approach towards AI development, fostering collaboration that could lead to faster breakthroughs. (Agencies)