Multiple countries, including India, the US, and Australia, have banned the Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek over security and data privacy concerns.
The Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek, which initially took the market by storm, is now facing crackdowns from several governments, including India, the US, and Australia, with South Korea being the latest to join. These countries have raised growing concerns over the chatbot’s security and data practices, particularly on government devices.
Countries That Have Banned DeepSeek
South Korea
The South Korean defense ministry announced on Thursday that it had blocked DeepSeek from being accessed on internet-connected military computers.
“Blocking measures for DeepSeek have been implemented specifically for military work-related PCs with Internet,” Seoul’s defense ministry told AFP.
This decision follows a request from the country’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), urging the Chinese AI startup to clarify how it manages user data.
India
The Indian government has banned its employees from using AI tools such as DeepSeek and ChatGPT on office computers and devices due to security concerns.
“It has been determined that AI tools and AI apps (such as ChatGPT, DeepSeek, etc.) on office computers and devices pose risks for the confidentiality of government data and documents,” a government memo stated.
Australia
Australia has banned DeepSeek from all government devices following recommendations from security agencies. The decision was made to mitigate privacy risks and potential malware threats linked to the Chinese AI platform.
“This is an action the government has taken on the advice of security agencies. It’s absolutely not a symbolic move,” said Cyber Security Envoy Andrew Charlton.
Home Affairs Secretary Stephanie Foster further justified the decision, stating, “After considering threat and risk analysis, I have determined that the use of DeepSeek products, applications, and web services poses an unacceptable level of security risk to the Australian Government.”
United States
The U.S. Navy has restricted the use of DeepSeek for both work-related tasks and personal use.
Texas became the first U.S. state to ban the Chinese AI app, with officials stating:
“Texas will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate our state’s critical infrastructure through data-harvesting AI and social media apps.”
Taiwan
Taiwan has prohibited government employees from using DeepSeek due to concerns that it could expose sensitive data to Beijing.
The Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) has classified DeepSeek AI as a Chinese information and communications technology (ICT) product, warning that potential data leaks could pose a national security risk.
As a result, MODA has banned DeepSeek across central and local government agencies, public schools, state-owned enterprises, and affiliated institutions. The restriction also applies to individuals working on critical infrastructure projects and employees of government-funded foundations.
Italy
Italy was one of the first countries to ban DeepSeek, citing risks of data breaches affecting millions of Italians.
“The Authority, considering the potential high risk for the data of millions of people in Italy, has asked the two companies and their affiliates to confirm which personal data are collected, from which sources, for which purposes, what is the legal basis of the processing, and whether they are stored on servers located in China (translated from Italian),” an official statement read.
China’s Response
China has strongly condemned the bans, criticizing what it calls the “politicization of economic, trade, and technological issues.”
Beijing specifically took issue with Australia’s decision to ban it from government devices, arguing that the move was unjustified.
“The Chinese government… has never and will never require enterprises or individuals to illegally collect or store data,” the Foreign Ministry stated.
