New Delhi, Feb 5 : The Finance Ministry has advised its employees against using artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek for official purposes, citing potential risks to the confidentiality of government data and documents.
The advisory, issued recently, highlights the potential threats posed by AI tools when used on office computers and devices. “It has been determined that AI tools and AI apps (such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek, etc.) in office computers and devices pose risks for the confidentiality of (government) data and documents,” the Finance Ministry stated.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (IT Ministry) previously suggested that privacy issues related to AI tools like DeepSeek could be mitigated by hosting open-source AI models on servers located within India.
Union Minister for Railways and Electronics & IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, also revealed plans for India to develop its own secure and responsible AI model to compete globally. According to the minister, this initiative aims to establish India as a key player in offering reliable and ethical AI solutions on a global scale.
DeepSeek, a Chinese AI application, has been under growing international scrutiny. Recently, Dutch authorities launched an investigation into its privacy policies, focusing on how the app manages users’ personal data. Similar restrictions on AI tools have been enforced in other countries.
The new Chinese AI platform DeepSeek will be hosted on Indian servers, addressing privacy and security concerns surrounding the app. DeepSeek’s arrival has raised alarms due to its origins in a Chinese AI company, and the app has been positioned as a potential competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Meanwhile, there have been reports that OpenAI and Microsoft are investigating claims that DeepSeek copied their APIs.
Separately, during an event in New Delhi on Wednesday, OpenAI Co-founder and CEO Sam Altman emphasized the importance of India as a key market for AI. “India is a very important market for AI. It is our second biggest market. Models are still not cheap, but they are doable. India should be a leader there, of course,” Altman remarked.(With inputs from IANS)