Australia: Chinese DeepSeek AI bot banned from government devices citing security risks

The Australian government has insisted the ban is not due to the app's Chinese origins but because of the "unacceptable risk" it poses to national security, reported BBC.

Australia's move specifically requires any government entities to "prevent the use or installation of DeepSeek products, applications and web services", as well as remove any previously installed, on any government system or device, the British media reported.

The direction ensures that a large section of the Australian population will not be able to use the bot that created a deep impact on the American tech industry since its recent launch.

However, the ban does not extend to private users.

"This is increasingly the approach adopted by governments whenever there is any question over security," Kieren McCarthy from cyber intelligence firm Oxford Information Labs told BBC.

What is DeepSeek?

DeepSeek, with its supposed low cost and higher performance, has intensified competition in the AI paradigm and left the West in a frenzy, prompting American firms to initiate further research in the arena.

DeepSeek is a Chinese artificial intelligence company which is based in Hangzhou.

Its AI-powered Chatbot has emerged as one of the most downloaded free app on Apple since its release in the USA this month.

After Italy questioned its privacy policy, the app was removed from app stores.

Regulators in South Korea, Ireland and France have all begun investigations into how DeepSeek handles user data, which it stores in servers in China, reported BBC.