Australia bans Chinese AI DeepSeek from government devices

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement that all DeepSeek products, applications and services would be removed from government systems on national security grounds effective immediately. A threat assessment by the country’s intelligence agencies found the technology posed an unacceptable risk, he said.

“AI is a technology full of potential and opportunity but the government will not hesitate to act when our agencies identify a national security risk,” Burke said in the statement on Tuesday.

Forestalling any criticisms about Australia acting against the app simply because of its Chinese origin, 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 extend to personal devices of private citizens, but Burke in his statement encouraged all Australians to consider how their data was used online and to take steps to “understand their online presence and protect their privacy”.