DeepSeek, the raging Chinese artificial intelligence model, has been banned from all government devices in Australia to prevent security risks.
The Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs issued a mandatory direction for all government entities to “prevent the use or installation of DeepSeek products, applications and web services and where found remove all existing instances of DeepSeek products, applications and web services from all Australian Government systems and devices”.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke stated the AI model posed an “unacceptable risk” to government technology and the immediate ban was “to protect Australia’s national security and national interest,” several Australian media outlets reported on Tuesday evening.
However, the ban does not extend to devices of private citizens.
In a similar case, Aussie Prime Minister Anthony Albanese‘ government imposed a government-wide ban on Chinese social media app TikTok two years ago over security concerns.
Other Countries To Sanction DeepSeek
Citing similar reasons, Taiwan has also banned DeepSeek on government devices. Last week, Italy blocked the Chinese AI app on the App Store and Google Play even launched an investigation into potential data breach.
Ireland, too, made the AI model unavailable in its territory due to the security risks it posed. Other countries that are mulling over to ban the firm include France, Garmany, Belgium and United States as of now.
Also Read: Apple Intelligence Tipped To Make Inroads In China Through DeepSeek
Rise of DeepSeek
DeepSeek has been on headlines recently after it launched a free AI assistant that it claimed uses less data at a fraction of the cost of incumbent services. Creating shockwaves in the tech world, the assistant had overtaken US rival ChatGPT in downloads from Apple’s App Store. Its steep rise sparked panic among tech stock investors.
As a result, the rapid success has also drawn regulatory attention. It is based on an open-source model, and reports suggest that the AI firm collects user data, including IP addresses and chat logs, raising alarm over potential privacy threats.
