Australia has banned the Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek from all government devices and systems due to security concerns. The ban does not apply to private citizens’ devices.
DeepSeek’s chatbot was hailed as a breakthrough in January after matching the performance level of US rivals with significantly lower training costs. However, this raised concerns about national security and data privacy. Regulators in several countries, including South Korea, Ireland, France, and Italy, have launched investigations into DeepSeek’s handling of user data.
The Australian government claims the ban is not related to DeepSeek’s Chinese origins but rather an “unacceptable risk” it poses to national security. The move requires government entities to prevent the use or installation of DeepSeek products and applications on any system or device.
Security experts have warned that chatbots, like those from companies like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and DeepSeek, can gather sensitive information, including personal data, which may be kept and analyzed by developers. This has raised concerns in areas such as national security and confidential work.
The ban highlights growing concerns about the use of Chinese tech globally, particularly with regards to telecoms firm Huawei and social media platform TikTok.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8d95v0nr1yo