Australian minister flags privacy concerns over China's AI chatbot 'DeepSeek'

Australia’s science minister on Tuesday (January 28) flagged privacy concerns over China’s breakout AI chatbot DeepSeek, urging users to think carefully before downloading it.

‘DeepSeek’ became the top-rated free application on Apple's App Store in the United States on Monday, leading to a crash in the US stock market.

“There are a lot of questions that will need to be answered in time on quality, consumer preferences, data and privacy management,” Science Minister Ed Husic told national broadcaster ABC, stressing the need to “be very careful”. He added, “I would be very careful about that. These type of issues need to be weighed up carefully.”

Also read: DeepSeek disrupts, Nvidia crumbles: Chinese AI start-up sparks $465B tech meltdown

Privacy concerns

There are differences between Chinese companies and their Western rivals when it comes to user privacy, the minister noted.

“The Chinese are very good at developing products that work very well. That market is accustomed to their approaches on data and privacy. However, minute you export it to markets where consumers have different expectations around privacy and data management, the questions is whether those products will be embraced in the same way,” he said.

Exhorting people to be careful with the use of DeepSeek, Husic stated that he is only being “completely frank and direct” with his concerns.

The Australian minister’s statement comes as DeepSeek is also being lauded for its ability to match Western competitors at a fraction of the cost.

Citing national security concerns, Australia announced a ban on Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from its 5G network in 2018.