Australia has banned DeepSeek AI services from all government systems and devices, becoming one of the first countries to take direct action against a Chinese artificial intelligence startup that has shaken Silicon Valley and global markets this year.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement that all DeepSeek products, apps and services would be removed from government systems with immediate effect for national security reasons. A threat assessment by the country’s intelligence agencies found that the technology posed an unacceptable risk.
DeepSeek’s technology, which was founded in Hangzhou 20 months ago, made waves in January with a new mobile app featuring a reasoning AI chatbot that it claims approximates its thought process and research before providing a response — and that it can be developed without major investments in high-end AI hardware. Its appeal has propelled it to the top of download charts around the world. However, doubts about the service’s security soon surfaced.
“AI is a technology full of potential and opportunity, but the government will not hesitate to act when our institutions identify a national security risk,” Burke said in a statement on Tuesday.
Avoiding any criticism of Australia’s action against the app because of its Chinese origins, he added that the government’s approach was “country-agnostic and focused on the risk to the Australian government and our assets.”
The action does not apply to private citizens’ personal devices, but Burke encouraged all Australians in his statement to consider how their data is used online and take steps to “understand their online presence and protect their privacy.”
Australia is not the first country to take action against DeepSeek. Italy’s privacy regulator has ordered it to be blocked to protect consumer data, and Ireland’s Data Protection Commission has asked the company for more information. Hundreds of private companies have also taken steps to block access to DeepSeek, it was reported last week.
