Australia has taken steps to ban the use of DeepSeek on all government devices in response to concerns over privacy and malware risks. The decision follows similar actions by South Korea, Italy, and France. A spokesman for the Australian government said that they took this action on the advice of security agencies, adding that it was not a symbolic move. He emphasized the importance of protecting government systems from applications like DeepSeek that may expose users to malware or violate their privacy. Australia's Home Affairs Department issued a directive to all government employees, stating that the use of DeepSeek products poses an unacceptable level of security risk. The department required noncorporate entities to identify and remove all existing instances of DeepSeek on all Australian Government systems and mobile devices. The action has garnered bipartisan support among politicians in Australia. In 2018, the country banned Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from its national Fifth Generation network, citing national security concerns. Additionally, TikTok was banned from government devices in 2023 on the advice of intelligence agencies. Dana Mckay, a cybersecurity researcher, said that DeepSeek posed a genuine risk due to its data practices and storage requirements. She emphasized that all Chinese companies are required to store their data in China, which subjects it to inspection by the Chinese government. DeepSeek raised alarms last month when it claimed its new R1 chatbot matches the capacity of AI pacesetters for a fraction of the cost. This has sent Silicon Valley into a frenzy, with some calling it a wake-up call for US developers.?

Australia has taken steps to ban the use of DeepSeek on all government devices in response to concerns over privacy and malware risks. The decision follows similar actions by South Korea, Italy, and France. A spokesman for the Australian government said that they took this action on the advice of security agencies, adding that it was not a symbolic move. He emphasized the importance of protecting government systems from applications like DeepSeek that may expose users to malware or violate their privacy. Australia's Home Affairs Department issued a directive to all government employees, stating that the use of DeepSeek products poses an unacceptable level of security risk. The department required noncorporate entities to identify and remove all existing instances of DeepSeek on all Australian Government systems and mobile devices. The action has garnered bipartisan support among politicians in Australia. In 2018, the country banned Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from its national Fifth Generation network, citing national security concerns. Additionally, TikTok was banned from government devices in 2023 on the advice of intelligence agencies. Dana Mckay, a cybersecurity researcher, said that DeepSeek posed a genuine risk due to its data practices and storage requirements. She emphasized that all Chinese companies are required to store their data in China, which subjects it to inspection by the Chinese government. DeepSeek raised alarms last month when it claimed its new R1 chatbot matches the capacity of AI pacesetters for a fraction of the cost. This has sent Silicon Valley into a frenzy, with some calling it a wake-up call for US developers.?