Sovereign alternative to DeepSeek:
which AI for your business?
DeepSeek surprised the AI world by offering open source models rivalling the best, at a fraction of the cost. An undeniable technical achievement. But when it comes to entrusting the data of your European business to a solution developed and operated in China, the question goes far beyond model performance.
This guide compares LetzAgents and DeepSeek factually, to help you choose the right solution for your professional context in Luxembourg and Europe. DeepSeek impresses with its value for money and its open source approach. But when it comes to data sovereignty, GDPR compliance and customer-facing AI agents, the needs are different.
Presentation of both solutions
DeepSeek
ChinaDeepSeek is a Chinese company founded in 2023, backed by the investment fund High-Flyer. It has developed open source AI models (DeepSeek-V3, DeepSeek-R1) that have impressed the community with their performance, rivalling GPT-4 and Claude on many benchmarks, while being significantly cheaper. The DeepSeek API is one of the cheapest on the market. The models are available as open source and can theoretically be self-hosted.
LetzAgents
LuxembourgLetzAgents is a private and sovereign AI solution, independent of any software ecosystem. Hosted exclusively in Europe on ISO 27001 certified servers, it creates a dedicated instance for your company, connected to all your internal documents via RAG technology. LetzAgents goes beyond chat: it also offers a web chatbot for your customers and an AI phone agent, all trained on your knowledge base.
Performance and value for money
This is DeepSeek's major strength. The value for money is remarkable. DeepSeek-R1, the reasoning model, rivals the best models on the market on mathematics, code and logical reasoning benchmarks. And the DeepSeek API costs a fraction of the price of GPT-4 or Claude. For developers and technical teams looking for a powerful model at lower cost, this is a compelling argument. The open source approach is also a real advantage: the models can be downloaded, inspected and, theoretically, self-hosted on your own infrastructure. However, running a model of this size in production requires significant GPU infrastructure and advanced technical expertise. The limitation: DeepSeek is a language model, not an enterprise solution. There is no knowledge base, no customer chatbot, no phone agent. And quality in French, although improving, still lags behind Western models.
LetzAgents uses high-performance language models hosted in Europe, optimised for French and Luxembourgish multilingualism (FR/EN/DE/LB). The value is not in the model alone, but in the complete architecture: permanent knowledge base, source citations, multichannel agents, sovereign hosting. It is a turnkey solution, not a raw model to integrate.
DeepSeek offers exceptional value for money for technical teams. LetzAgents is a turnkey enterprise solution with a complete ecosystem.
Hosting and data sovereignty
This is the major point of concern. DeepSeek is a Chinese company. The DeepSeek API processes requests on servers in China. Data is therefore subject to Chinese legislation, including the Cybersecurity Law, the Data Security Law (DSL) and the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL). These laws give Chinese authorities very broad access to data processed on the territory. Self-hosting the open source models is possible, but requires expensive GPU infrastructure, advanced technical expertise and continuous maintenance. Most companies do not have the resources for this. For European businesses, entrusting customer, financial or legal data to servers in China poses major GDPR compliance issues, in addition to obvious geopolitical questions.
The entire infrastructure (storage, processing, AI models) is hosted in Europe, operated by European entities. No dependency on any Chinese or American company. Your instance is physically and logically isolated. For regulated professions in Luxembourg, this independence eliminates any legal grey area.
LetzAgents guarantees complete sovereignty in Europe. DeepSeek processes data in China with exposure to Chinese legislation, a significant compliance risk for European businesses.
GDPR compliance and legal framework
The transfer of personal data to China is not covered by an adequacy decision from the European Commission. There is no mechanism equivalent to the Privacy Shield or the DPF for China. DeepSeek does not offer a DPA (Data Processing Agreement) compliant with European standards. Several European data protection authorities (including the Italian CNIL) have already launched investigations into DeepSeek. For a Luxembourg company, using the DeepSeek API to process customer data or internal documents containing personal data is legally problematic under the GDPR.
Data processing remains entirely under European jurisdiction. No transfer to China or the United States. The architecture was designed from the outset to meet the requirements of the GDPR and the future EU AI Act. LetzAgents provides a compliant DPA and supports its clients in their compliance efforts.
LetzAgents offers complete and native GDPR compliance. Using the DeepSeek API for personal data is legally risky under the GDPR.
AI agents and customer channels
DeepSeek is a language model accessible via an API and a basic web interface. It does not offer an embeddable website chatbot, a phone agent, or an enterprise knowledge base. To create these features, you would need to develop the infrastructure around the model, a significant technical investment.
LetzAgents offers a complete suite of AI agents, all connected to your knowledge base: an internal chat agent for your teams, a web chatbot integrated into your site for customer support and appointment booking, and an AI phone agent that answers calls 24/7 in natural, multilingual voice. These agents share the same knowledge base, turnkey, without development.
LetzAgents is a complete enterprise solution. DeepSeek is a raw model that requires significant development to be transformed into a professional solution.
Who is each solution for?
DeepSeek may be suitable if:
- You have a technical team capable of self-hosting and maintaining an AI model
- You are looking for a high-performance model at very low cost for non-sensitive internal use
- You do not process personal or confidential data via the API
- You are prepared to invest in developing infrastructure around the model
- GDPR compliance is not a constraint for your specific use case
LetzAgents is designed for you if:
- You need a turnkey solution, without technical development
- Data sovereignty is critical (professional secrecy, regulation)
- You want a customer chatbot or AI phone agent, in addition to internal AI
- You process personal or confidential data
- You are in Luxembourg and want local support in French
3 reasons to choose LetzAgents over DeepSeek
Impressive AI performance, without sending your data to China.
Your data stays in Europe, not in China
DeepSeek is a Chinese company subject to Chinese data laws. Your conversations and documents pass through servers in China. LetzAgents guarantees 100% European hosting, ISO 27001 certified, with a dedicated instance.
- No data transfer to China
- Complete and verifiable GDPR compliance
- No risk from Chinese legislation
An enterprise solution, not a raw model
DeepSeek is an impressive language model, but it is a technical tool to assemble. LetzAgents is a complete solution: permanent knowledge base, source citation, customer chatbot and phone agent,ready to use.
A local partner, not a community model
DeepSeek offers no enterprise support, no guidance, no service guarantee. LetzAgents is a partner based in Luxembourg with French-language support and end-to-end assistance.
LetzAgents vs DeepSeek:
| Criteria | DeepSeek | LetzAgents |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | China (API) / Self-hostable | Europe (ISO 27001) |
| Operating company | DeepSeek (China) | European |
| Exposure to Chinese legislation | Yes (API) | No |
| GDPR compliance | Non-compliant (transfer to China) | Complete (EU hosting) |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| API cost | Very low | On request (SME and Enterprise plans) |
| Turnkey solution | No (raw model) | Yes |
| Permanent knowledge base | No | Yes (RAG on all docs) |
| Source citations | No | Yes (document + page) |
| AI phone agent | No | Yes |
| Embeddable website chatbot | No | Yes |
| Quality in French | Adequate (improving) | Excellent |
| Local Luxembourg support | No | Yes |
Book a meeting
Let's discuss your needs and see how LetzAgents can help you.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know to choose between DeepSeek and LetzAgents.
DeepSeek is open source, can't I just self-host it in Europe?
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Technically, DeepSeek models are open source and can be downloaded. But running a model with 671 billion parameters (DeepSeek-V3) in production requires very expensive GPU infrastructure (several hundred thousand euros), advanced technical expertise, and continuous maintenance. Then you would still need to develop the RAG knowledge base, the customer chatbot, the phone agent, etc. LetzAgents offers all of this turnkey.
Aren't DeepSeek models as powerful as GPT-4?
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On certain benchmarks (mathematics, reasoning, code), DeepSeek-R1 does indeed rival the best models on the market. This is a remarkable technical achievement. But the raw performance of a model is only part of the equation for a business. The quality in French lags behind, there is no knowledge base, no customer agents, and GDPR compliance is not ensured.
Is DeepSeek legal to use in Europe?
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Using the DeepSeek web interface or API for personal use is not illegal per se. But using the API to process personal data of your customers or employees poses a problem under the GDPR, as data is transferred to China without an adequate legal framework. Several European data protection authorities have already opened investigations.
Why is DeepSeek so cheap?
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DeepSeek is funded by High-Flyer, a Chinese quantitative investment fund, and benefits from hardware and energy access conditions specific to the Chinese market. The long-term business model is not yet clear. For a company building its AI strategy for the long term, the sustainability and transparency of the provider are important criteria.
Can you use LetzAgents AND DeepSeek at the same time?
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This is possible for compartmentalised uses. For example, your technical team could use DeepSeek self-hosted for development tasks (code, testing) without sensitive data, and LetzAgents for enterprise AI with customer data, chatbot and phone agent. The important thing is not to mix sensitive data with a service whose GDPR compliance is not ensured.
Want to see how LetzAgents can secure and automate your business with sovereign AI? Book a meeting for a free demo.
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