India bans use of AI tools like ChatGPT and DeepSeek over security concerns

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India’s finance ministry has asked its employees to avoid using AI tools including ChatGPT and DeepSeek for official purposes, citing risks posed to confidentiality of government documents and data, an internal department advisory showed.

Countries like Australia and Italy have placed similar restrictions on the use of DeepSeek, citing data security risks. Reports of the advisory surfaced on social media on Tuesday, ahead of a scheduled visit to India by OpenAI chief Sam Altman on Wednesday, when he is also due to meet the IT minister.

“It has been determined that AI tools and AI apps (such as ChatGPT, DeepSeek etc.) in the office computers and devices pose risks for confidentiality of (government) data and documents,” said the advisory by the Indian finance ministry dated Jan. 29.

Representatives for India’s finance ministry, ChatGPT-parent OpenAI and DeepSeek did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Three finance ministry officials said the note was genuine and the note was issued internally this week.

Reuters could not immediately confirm whether similar directives have been issued for other Indian ministries.

OpenAI is facing heat in India due to a high-profile copyright infringement battle with the country’s top media houses, and has said in court filings that it does not have its servers in the country and Indian courts should not hear the matter.

Previously, Australia banned DeepSeek from all government devices over concerns that the Chinese artificial intelligence startup poses security risks, the government said on Tuesday.

The Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs issued a mandatory direction for all government entities to “prevent the use or installation of DeepSeek products, applications and web services and where found remove all existing instances of DeepSeek products, applications and web services from all Australian Government systems and devices,” the statement said.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said DeepSeek posed an “unacceptable risk” to government technology and the immediate ban was “to protect Australia’s national security and national interest,” several Australian media outlets reported on Tuesday evening.

The ban does not extend to devices of private citizens.

Tech stocks worldwide plunged after the launch of DeepSeek last month – apparently costing a fraction of rival AI models and requiring less sophisticated chips – raised questions over the West’s huge investments in chipmakers and data centres.

Australia’s decision to ban Deepseek follows similar action in Italy, while other countries in Europe and elsewhere are also looking into the AI firm.

Taiwan banned government departments from using DeepSeek earlier this week.

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