Australia bans DeepSeek from government devices over security risk.
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Australia has banned DeepSeek from all government devices and systems over the security risk posed by the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup.
DeepSeek stunned the world in January when it unveiled a chatbot that matched the performance of its American rivals while claiming it cost far less to train.
Billions of dollars have been wiped off global stock markets, including in Australia, where AI-related stocks — such as chipmaker Brainchip — plunged overnight.
The Australian government insisted the ban was not because of the app's Chinese origins, but because of the "unacceptable risk" it poses to national security.
DeepSeek has been contacted for comment. The Australian measure specifically requires all government entities to "prevent the use or installation of DeepSeek products, applications and internet services," as well as to remove any software already installed on any government systems or devices.
This means a wide range of employees across the country will be unable to use these tools, including those working in areas as diverse as the Australian Electoral Commission and the Bureau of Meteorology.
It is less clear whether this means DeepSeek will be banned from public sector computers in different parts of the economy, such as schools.
The ban does not extend to private devices.
"This is the approach governments are increasingly taking whenever there is a security concern," said Kieren McCarthy of cyber intelligence firm Oxford Information Labs. "This adds a political dimension to all new technologies and heralds the end of the era when technology was king."
Growing and well-known concerns
Western countries have a history of being wary of Chinese technology – including telecoms firm Huawei and social media platform TikTok – which have been restricted on national security grounds.
Initial reaction to DeepSeek – which has quickly become the most downloaded free app in the UK and US – appears to have been mixed.
President Donald Trump described it as a "wake-up call" for the US, but said it could be a positive development overall if it reduces the costs of AI.
However, doubts have since begun to be expressed about it.
An Australian science minister had already said in January that countries should be "very cautious" about DeepSeek, citing "data and privacy" concerns. The chatbot was removed from app stores after its privacy policy was questioned in Italy. The Italian government had previously temporarily blocked ChatGPT for privacy reasons in March 2023.
Regulators in South Korea, Ireland and France have begun investigating how DeepSeek handles user data, which it stores on servers in China.
White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt also said the US was now looking into the potential security implications.
The US Navy has banned its members from using DeepSeek - although it did not confirm this to the BBC. What data does DeepSeek collect? Is China's AI tool as effective as it seems? Watch DeepSeek Refuse to Answer Tiananmen Square Question
Typically, AI tools analyze messages sent to them to improve their product.
This is as true for apps like ChatGPT and Google Gemini as it is for DeepSeek.
They all collect and store information, including email addresses and dates of birth. However, security experts have already warned that anyone working in confidential or national security fields should be aware of the risk that everything they type into the chatbot will be stored and analyzed by the developers of these tools.
DeepSeek has also been accused of abusing American technology.
OpenAI has complained that rivals, including China, are using its work to make rapid progress with their own products.
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