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February 5, 2025

European startups are rolling out DeepSeek despite safety concerns: ‘There’s still a risk’

Founders are finding it hard to resist DeepSeek's discount AI models — but experts advise treading carefully


DeepSeek sent shockwaves around the world last month. Credit: Solen Feyissa via Unsplash

European startups are rolling out products built using Chinese AI developer DeepSeek’s technology, despite safety concerns from some in the sector. 

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Kai Nicol-Schwarz

Kai Nicol-Schwarz was a senior reporter at Sifted. He covered AI and UK tech.

Anne Sraders

Anne Sraders is a senior reporter at Sifted, based in Berlin. She covers the VC industry and deeptech startups. She also writes Sifted's weekly VC newsletter Up Round. Follow her on X and LinkedIn

Miriam Partington

Miriam Partington was a senior reporter at Sifted, based in Berlin. She covered the DACH region and the future of work, and wrote Startup Life , a weekly newsletter on what it takes to build a startup.

Martin Coulter

Martin Coulter is Sifted's news editor, based in London. You can follow him on LinkedIn and X

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