Why We Don't Use Chinese AI Models (And Why Your Business Shouldn't Either)
At the bottom of our website, we include a clear disclaimer: "We do not use Chinese models due to security concerns."
Many people have asked why we are so explicit about this. The reason is simple: using Chinese AI models introduces unavoidable legal, security, and compliance risks that no responsible business should accept.
The Legal Reality: Your Data Is Not Safe
China's National Intelligence Law requires companies and citizens to support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work.
This means that if a Chinese company stores your data, it can be legally compelled to hand it over without notifying you.
Even if the servers are outside China, the company operating them is still bound by these laws.
If you use a Chinese AI model, everything you send to it is ultimately exposed to this legal obligation:
- Every prompt
- Every document
- Every conversation
- Every piece of customer data
There is no meaningful way around this. The risk is built into the legal structure.
DeepSeek: A Case Study in What Can Go Wrong
When DeepSeek launched in early 2025, it gained attention for its low cost and high performance. But security researchers quickly discovered something alarming.
A Publicly Exposed Database
Within minutes of investigating:
- Researchers found an open, unauthenticated ClickHouse database connected to DeepSeek.
- It contained over one million lines of sensitive logs.
- These included chat histories, API keys, backend details, and other confidential information.
- Attackers could have gained full control over the database with no authentication at all.
This was not a sophisticated breach. It was a basic, preventable mistake that exposed enormous amounts of user data.
When a system is architected without strong security practices, the cost savings are never worth the risk.
Global Bans: Governments Are Paying Attention
By 2025, multiple countries took action to protect their national security and citizen data.
Countries and institutions that banned DeepSeek include:
- Italy
- United States (including NASA, Navy, Congress, and multiple states)
- South Korea
- Australia
- Taiwan
- India
The reasons were consistent:
security concerns, data handling risks, and lack of transparency.
The GDPR Problem: EU Compliance Is Impossible
For EU businesses, the issue becomes even more severe.
European regulators have stated clearly that Chinese AI providers cannot guarantee GDPR-compliant data protection, because Chinese authorities can access the data at any time.
Key concerns include:
- No adequate protections for cross-border data transfers
- No meaningful limitations on government access
- No enforceable transparency about how data is processed or stored
In several judgments and official statements, regulators described these platforms as “unlawful” for handling EU users' personal data.
If your business operates in the EU, using a Chinese model exposes you to legal risks, fines, and compliance failures by default.
Built-In Censorship and Reliability Issues
Chinese AI models are trained under strict regulatory control. As a result:
- They censor politically sensitive topics
- They refuse to answer certain factual questions
- They provide state-aligned narratives on geopolitical issues
- They sometimes introduce security vulnerabilities when censoring or avoiding topics
Examples include:
- Refusing to discuss historical events such as the Tiananmen Square protests
- Claiming that Taiwan is not a country
- Declining to answer questions about Chinese leadership
For businesses building products with AI:
- This reduces reliability
- Introduces unpredictable behaviour
- Can damage user experience
- Can even create technical risks, such as unsafe code suggestions resulting from censorship workarounds
A trustworthy AI system must be free from hidden constraints and political filtering.
Why This Matters for Your AI Agent
When you integrate an AI agent into your product, you are trusting it with:
- Customer conversations
- Internal documents
- Business data
- Sensitive information
Using a system that might expose this data to foreign intelligence agencies is not a risk you can afford to take.
At Namiru.ai, we believe that safe AI requires:
1. Data sovereignty
Your data should stay under the protection of strong privacy laws.
Namiru.ai is EU built and fully GDPR compliant.
2. Transparency
You should always know:
- Where your data goes
- Who handles it
- Under what jurisdiction it is processed
3. No hidden censorship
Your AI agent must deliver objective, complete information.
Models trained under Chinese restrictions cannot guarantee this.
4. Security-first infrastructure
Modern AI services should follow strict security practices.
Basic lapses like exposed databases show a lack of maturity and readiness.
Our Commitment
Namiru.ai only uses models from:
- Anthropic
- OpenAI
- Other reputable providers that fall under transparent regulatory frameworks
These companies:
- Are subject to US or EU law
- Do not have legal obligations to hand your data to foreign intelligence services
- Publish detailed privacy and compliance documentation
- Are audited and held to global security standards
This is not about nationalism or politics.
It is about protecting your business and your customers.
When you use Namiru.ai:
- Your data never touches Chinese servers
- Your models run under strong legal and security protections
- Your AI agent operates transparently, reliably, and without censorship
Conclusion
Chinese AI models come with unavoidable legal, security, and compliance risks. The low cost does not outweigh the threat to your business.
Namiru.ai is built for companies that take data privacy seriously.
We stand by one simple principle:
If we cannot guarantee the security of your data, we will not use the technology.
Your trust matters.
Your data stays protected.
And your AI agents remain safe, reliable, and compliant.