Australia bans Chinese AI platform DeepSeek on government devices

The Albanese government banned TikTok on Commonwealth-owned devices in April 2023.

DeepSeek’s ban follows a call by cybersecurity company CyberCX for the app to be banned on government devices.

It said it’s “almost certain” that the user data the app captures would be subject to direction and control by the Chinese government and noted some of its answers on subjects including the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre of pro-democracy protesters complied with Communist Party narratives.

CyberCX extended its warning to all organisations, particularly critical infrastructure providers, democratic institutions and organisations that handle personal information.

The government said in a statement that its ban was based on information from national security and intelligence agencies that DeepSeek poses an unacceptable risk.

It has not banned the use of rival artificial intelligence platforms from OpenAI or Meta, which are US companies.

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The government urged all Australians to ensure they are informed about how their data can be used online and the steps they can take to protect their privacy, including reviewing each company’s privacy policies.

DeepSeek sent shockwaves through the US stock market last week after it demonstrated breakthrough artificial intelligence models that offer comparable performance to the world’s best chatbots at seemingly a fraction of the cost.

Italy and Taiwan have also banned the use of DeepSeek on government devices, and several US institutions have directed staff not to use it including NASA, the Pentagon and US Navy.