DeepSeek API

The DeepSeek API in Europe

There are two ways to call DeepSeek models from Europe. DeepSeek's own API is run by a Chinese company under Chinese law, and its privacy policy says it processes and stores personal data in the People's Republic of China. Or you call the open-weight models — MIT-licensed, so any host can serve them — through a provider in Europe. On Frontière AI, DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (552B MoE, 1M context) run on European infrastructure and are labeled EU sovereign; DeepSeek V4 Pro (1.6T MoE) is served by US providers and labeled fast access, before you call it. Same OpenAI-compatible API either way, prepaid, prices VAT included.

Is DeepSeek hosted in Europe?

Not by DeepSeek itself: its own API runs in China, and we found no EU region in its documentation. The open weights are another matter. Any operator may serve them, so a European company can host DeepSeek in Europe without a single request reaching DeepSeek. On Frontière AI, DeepSeek is hosted in Europe by Scaleway (France) for DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 and AKI.IO (Germany) for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash. Each response names the provider that served it, in the x-routed-provider header. DeepSeek V4 Pro (1.6T MoE) is, by contrast, served by US providers and labeled fast access before you call it.

DeepSeek models on Frontière AI

Every DeepSeek model we serve, with the provider that serves it and its jurisdiction label — taken from our live catalog when this page is built.

Prices margin and VAT included — the amount debited from your prepaid balance. Tool calling measured with one real call per model.

DeepSeek's own API, side by side

What DeepSeek's own documents say, checked on 2026-10-12, next to the same questions on Frontière AI. We quote; we do not interpret on their behalf.

DeepSeek sources, checked on 2026-10-12: DeepSeek — privacy policy (Feb 10, 2026) · DeepSeek — Open Platform terms (Apr 29, 2026) · DeepSeek — API docs · Hugging Face — deepseek-ai

What European regulators have said

These decisions concern DeepSeek's own service and apps — not the open-weight models run by someone else. They are why the question comes up in most procurement reviews.

• 30 Jan 2025. Italy's data protection authority (Garante) ordered an urgent limitation on the processing of Italian users' data by the two DeepSeek companies and opened an investigation. garanteprivacy.it
• 11 Feb 2025. The European Data Protection Board agreed that its AI enforcement task force should be the forum for coordinating DeepSeek cases. edpb.europa.eu (minutes)
• 27 Jun 2025. Berlin's data protection commissioner reported the DeepSeek apps to Apple and Google as illegal content under the Digital Services Act, citing unlawful transfer of data to China. datenschutz-berlin.de

Why an EU provider can serve DeepSeek at all

DeepSeek publishes its weights on Hugging Face under the MIT licence. Anyone can download and serve them, which is how a European operator can run a DeepSeek model without any request reaching DeepSeek. The model is the same family; the operator, the jurisdiction and the data path are not.

Switching takes one line

If your code already uses the OpenAI SDK — DeepSeek's own API is OpenAI-compatible too — only the base URL, the key and the model ID change:

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://getfrontiereai.eu/api/v1",
    api_key=os.environ["FRONTIERE_KEY"],
)
reply = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="deepseek-v4-flash-0731",  # EU sovereign: served in Europe, labeled before you call it
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Bonjour"}],
)

FAQ