Australia bans DeepSeek AI program on government devices

SYDNEY: Australia has banned DeepSeek from all government devices on the advice of security agencies, a top official said Wednesday, citing privacy and malware risks posed by China’s breakout AI program.

The DeepSeek chatbot — developed by a China-based startup — has astounded industry insiders and upended financial markets since it was released last month.

But a growing list of countries including South Korea, Italy and France have voiced concerns about the application’s security and data practices.