Vodafone and iiNet owner TPG has banned workers from using Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek, believed to be the first Australian company to do so.
It comes after the chatbot platform was banned from all Australian Government devices after it was found to pose an unacceptable level of security risk, with many businesses expected to follow suit.
The direction from the Home Affairs Department early last month was made under the same framework used to prohibit TikTok from Government-issued devices in 2023.
On Wednesday, TPG tech security general manager Lee Barney said not only did it ban DeepSeek at work but also urged employees to not use it in their personal lives.
“We have banned DeepSeek across TPG and are recommending our people to not use it in a personal capacity,” he said in a statement provided to The Nightly.
“The speed of AI developments and how information is ingested and used needs to be met with a measured and cautious approach from both the public and corporate Australia.”
The launch of DeepSeek, developed by a Hangzhou-based startup, rocked US tech stocks last week after it claimed its models functioned on par with its US competitors like OpenAI, which develops ChatGPT.
NASDAQ-listed chipmaker Nvidia’s share price dropped by roughly 17 per cent last Monday, wiping almost $1 trillion off its market value.
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