TAIPEI, Taiwan – China criticized Australia for banning the Chinese AI chatbot app DeepSeek on government devices, describing it as the “politicization of economic, trade and technological issues,” which Beijing opposes.
DeepSeek is a Chinese AI startup known for its chatbot service, with its app becoming the most downloaded on Apple’s iPhone, surpassing ChatGPT. While praised for efficiency, it faces concerns over censorship of sensitive topics and data privacy, with some governments banning it due to ties with Chinese telecom firms.
Australia became one of the latest to introduce a restriction on Tuesday, mandating that all government agencies – excluding corporate entities such as Australia Post – immediately remove all DeepSeek products from their devices, after it was found to pose national security risks.
China strongly denied that the app was being used to collect data.
“The Chinese government … has never and will never require enterprises or individuals to illegally collect or store data,” said China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, as cited by the AFP news agency.
The Global Times, state-run Chinese tabloid, cited an expert as saying that Australia’s ban was “clearly driven by ideological discrimination, not technological concerns.”
Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke earlier said the decision was based on security risks to government systems and assets, rather than because of the app’s country of origin.
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South Korean ban
South Korea’s foreign and defense ministries, among others, also announced a ban on the use of DeekSeek, citing security concerns.
While not a government-wide prohibition, an advisory issued by South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety on Tuesday urged government agencies and local authorities to exercise heightened caution when using AI chatbots like DeepSeek.
South Korea earlier said it would send an official inquiry to the DeepSeek headquarters in China to confirm its procedures for collecting personal information, and how it is processed and stored.
The South added it would also question how collected personal information was used and details about the chatbot’s AI learning process.
Separately, South Korean internet conglomerate Kakao, which operates the KakaoTalk messaging app with 54 million users, also announced a ban on its employees using DeepSeek.
The ban follows similar restrictions by U.S. agencies including NASA and the Pentagon. Italy’s data protection authority has also reportedly blocked access to DeepSeek, while Taiwan prohibited its public sector from using the Chinese app.
Edited by Mike Firn.