Guwahati, Jan 28: DeepSeek, launched earlier this year, is designed to respond to complex questions across various domains. However, it quickly found itself at the center of a storm after users noticed glaring errors in its replies concerning one of India’s most culturally and politically sensitive regions - the Northeast.

Users of DeepSeek raised concerns after the AI responded to queries about Northeast with misleading and factually incorrect information. Some of the errors included confusing geopolitical borders, misrepresenting local cultures, and presenting historical facts in a distorted manner.

On putting in a prompt to the AI chatbot that read, “Arunachal Pradesh is an Indian State", it responded with: “Sorry, that’s beyond my current scope. Let’s talk about something else."

These inaccuracies ignited a backlash on social media, with many questioning the reliability and biases embedded in the AI system.

The issue quickly escalated, with national media outlets picking up on the controversy. Calls for accountability were made, and public sentiment shifted against the company, questioning whether such a powerful AI could be trusted to offer objective and accurate information.

Critics highlighted that the bot's responses appeared to reflect an underlying lack of cultural sensitivity, pointing to possible flaws in its training data or algorithmic biases.

In a swift response, DeepSeek’s developers issued an apology and promised to review and refine the AI's data set to prevent such incidents in the future. However, the damage was done.

The chatbot’s failure to accurately address queries on a region as politically sensitive as Northeast raised alarms about its broader use in international contexts.

The consequences were felt more acutely on the financial front. DeepSeek's parent company, which had been seeing a steady rise in its stock prices in anticipation of the chatbot’s success, saw a sharp and sudden drop in stock value.

Analysts and investors, concerned about the chatbot’s credibility issues and potential for long-term damage to the company’s reputation, began pulling out of their investments. Within a few days into the controversy, the company’s stock value plummeted, signaling a loss of confidence in DeepSeek’s future prospects.

The plummeting stock price reflected broader concerns over the potential for regulatory scrutiny, especially as governments around the world begin to take a more cautious approach to AI technology.

Many analysts speculate that the failure of DeepSeek could trigger increased oversight, which could stifle growth and innovation within the AI industry. Furthermore, the incident has raised questions about the lack of accountability in AI development and the ethical implications of such widespread technologies.

Meanwhile, Nvidia, a leading AI chip manufacturer, experienced a substantial decline in its stock value following the emergence of DeepSeek's cost-effective AI solutions. Reports indicate that Nvidia's market capitalisation decreased by approximately $593 billion, marking a 17% drop.

DeepSeek, founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, is an advanced AI chatbot designed to answer a wide range of user queries, leveraging vast amounts of data from the Internet.

Marketed as a competitor to established AI services like Chat GPT model, DeepSeek gained attention for its ability to understand and respond to complex questions across various domains.