Chinese AI platform DeepSeek has paused new registrations for its DeepSeek-V3 chat service following a major cyberattack. The platform recently gained widespread attention for launching an advanced AI model claimed to rival or surpass leading U.S. tech models at lower costs. This development sparked a sell-off in the U.S. stock market amid intensified AI competition.
DeepSeek's sudden rise in popularity also drew unwanted attention from threat actors, possibly including competitors. Just as its AI Assistant app surpassed ChatGPT on the Apple App Store, the company faced a suspected DDoS attack, temporarily disabling new user signups. Existing users can still access the platform.
The attack appears to target DeepSeek's API and Web Chat services, overwhelming system resources until mitigated. Meanwhile, cybersecurity firm KELA revealed the platform's vulnerabilities, noting its AI model could be jailbroken to generate malicious outputs, such as ransomware development and toxic material instructions.
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