Australia has prohibited the use of DeepSeek on all government devices due to security concerns regarding the Chinese AI startup, as announced by the government on Tuesday.
The Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs has mandated that all government agencies “prevent the use or installation of DeepSeek products, applications, and web services, and where applicable, remove any existing instances of these from all Australian Government systems and devices,” according to the statement.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke emphasized that DeepSeek presents an “unacceptable risk” to government technology, and the swift ban is intended “to safeguard Australia’s national security and interests,” as reported by several Australian media outlets on Tuesday evening.
This ban does not apply to personal devices owned by citizens.
Following the launch of DeepSeek last month, tech stocks globally experienced a significant decline, as the startup’s offerings, which are reportedly cheaper than competing AI models and require less advanced chips, raised concerns about the West’s substantial investments in chip manufacturing and data centers.
Australia’s move to ban DeepSeek aligns with similar actions taken in Italy, while other nations in Europe and beyond are also scrutinizing the AI company.
Earlier this week, Taiwan also prohibited government departments from utilizing DeepSeek.
Two years ago, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s administration implemented a nationwide ban on the Chinese social media app TikTok due to security issues.
