Australia says be 'very careful' over DeepSeek and privacy

This photo illustration shows the DeepSeek app on a mobile phone in Beijing on January 27, 2025. Chinese firm DeepSeek's artificial intelligence chatbot has soared to the top of the Apple Store's download charts, stunning industry insiders and analysts with its ability to match its US competitors. [AFP]

Australia's science minister raised privacy concerns over China's breakout AI chatbot DeepSeek on Tuesday, urging users to think carefully before downloading it.

Developed by a China-based technology startup, the DeepSeek chatbot has astounded industry insiders and upended financial markets since it was released last week.

Praised for its ability to match Western competitors at a fraction of the cost, it has surged to the top of app download charts, displacing market leader ChatGPT.

But Australian Science Minister Ed Husic urged caution.

"There are a lot of questions that will need to be answered in time on quality, consumer preferences, data and privacy management," Husic told national broadcaster ABC.

"I would be very careful about that. These type of issues need to be weighed up carefully."

Husic said Chinese companies sometimes differed from Western rivals when it came to user privacy and data management.

"The Chinese are very good at developing products that work very well. That market is accustomed to their approaches on data and privacy.

"The 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.

"I think you have to be careful, I'm just being completely frank and direct on that."

Australia in 2018 banned Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from its national 5G network, citing national security concerns.