Australia has imposed a ban on DeepSeek, with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announcing that all DeepSeek products, applications, and services will be immediately removed from government networks, Bloomberg reported.Reports Technology News
AI holds immense potential, but we will not hesitate to act when security threats are identified,” Burke said. He added that the decision was based on the risk assessment rather than the company’s Chinese origins, stating that Australia’s approach remained “country-agnostic.”
The move aligns with Australia’s historically firm stance on Chinese tech companies. In 2018, it barred Huawei and ZTE from the country’s 5G infrastructure, citing national security concerns.
While the ban applies only to government devices, Burke urged Australian citizens to remain vigilant about their digital footprint and data privacy.
DeepSeek recently gained industry attention after its AI-powered mobile app topped Apple’s US App Store downloads. However, its AI model has since come under global scrutiny over data security risks, prompting the US government to launch an investigation into the technology’s potential threats to security and data sovereignty.
Australia now joins Italy and Taiwan in restricting access to DeepSeek, while Ireland’s Data Protection Commission has requested further details on its operations. Additionally, several private companies have preemptively blocked the AI platform, Bloomberg reported
