Australia has banned the Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek from all government devices due to security concerns, as announced by the government on Tuesday. The Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs issued a mandatory directive for all government entities to “prevent the use or installation of DeepSeek products, applications and web services” and to remove any existing instances from Australian government systems.
Why Australia and other nations are cracking down on DeepSeek AI?
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke emphasized that DeepSeek posed an “unacceptable risk” to government technology, stating that the ban aims to protect Australia’s national security and national interest. This action does not apply to private citizen devices.
The ban follows a significant global reaction after DeepSeek launched a chatbot that matched the performance of US rivals but at a fraction of the cost, which subsequently led to a plunge in tech stocks worldwide. This reaction raised concerns over investments in chipmakers and data centers in the West. Australia’s decision comes after similar bans were implemented in Italy and Taiwan, with additional investigations into DeepSeek occurring in various countries across Europe and Asia.
The first stone: Italy blocks DeepSeek over data privacy concerns
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government had previously banned the Chinese social media app TikTok from government devices two years ago over similar security concerns. On January launch, DeepSeek quickly became the most downloaded free app in the UK and US, leading to comments from former President Donald Trump, who referred to it as a “wake up call” for the US, suggesting it could lower AI costs.
Despite the initial interest in DeepSeek, subsequent scrutiny has led to increased caution regarding its data and privacy policies. An Australian science minister noted the need for careful consideration of DeepSeek because of potential data privacy issues. The chatbot was removed from app stores in Italy after its privacy policy was questioned, echoing earlier actions taken against ChatGPT over privacy concerns.
Regulatory bodies in South Korea, Ireland, and France have initiated investigations into DeepSeek’s user data handling, particularly concerning data stored on servers in China. The US administration has stated that it is evaluating the security implications of DeepSeek, and reports suggest that the US Navy has prohibited its members from using the application, although this has not yet been confirmed.
DeepSeek, like other AI tools, analyzes user prompts to improve its products, prompting warnings from security experts about the risks associated with entering sensitive information into such platforms. The company has faced allegations of unfairly leveraging US technology, with OpenAI raising concerns that rivals, including those in China, are leveraging its work for rapid advancements.
Featured image credit: Solen Feyissa/Unsplash
