Federal government ministers are urging precaution, while one American company has hesitantly barred staff from using the technology, while others are frantically looking for advice on its cybersecurity implications.
But others have welcomed DeepSeek’s appearance, calling for Australia to pursue China ’s lead in developing strong still less energy-intensive AI systems.
The Chinese company has upended the AI industry in the times since the R1 artificial intelligence design and public release of its bot and software, respectively.
Following the launch, many global industry leaders noticed their decline, as DeepSeek demonstrated that AI could be developed with less effort and training than that of models like ChatGPT or Meta Llama.
Its appearance may indicate a new industry change, but for authorities and business, the effect is questionable. Whereas ChatGPT’s 2022 appearance caught governments and businesses by surprise as workers began to try out the new AI technology, at least for the arrival of Deepseek, some had a playbook.
Business as usual
A spokesperson for Telstra said the firm had “a comprehensive approach to determine all AI tools, capabilities, and use cases in our business”, including a list of approved conceptual AI tools, and guidelines on how to use them.
For now at Telstra, DeepSeek is never allowed.
“Our preferred lover is MS Copilot, and we’re rolling out 21,000 Copilot for Microsoft 365 licences to our people. ”
Different businesses contacted them right away to get tips on whether DeepSeek should be used.
Katherine Mansted, the executive director of cyber intelligence for the largest American cybersecurity firm CyberCX, claimed that customers had already contacted the company to get advice on whether the technology was secure.
It should come as no surprise that there have been some sort of DeepSeek fury, both among those with the security lens and those who are financially and market inclined, Mansted said.
DeepSeek and state
CyberCX took the strange step of releasing advice fast that advised businesses, including government agencies and those storing sensitive information, to seriously consider restricting access to DeepSeek on work products.
We are aware that the government doesn’t have any strategic policies, and we have already been on this road, Mansted said. “We’ve had debates about TikTok, about Chinese surveillance cameras, about Huawei in the company community, and we always act after the fact, not before the point … Here, particularly because the threats are around sacrifice of sensitive information, in terms of any information that you put into this AI assistant: it ’s going straight to China.
We believed it was necessary to act more quickly this time. ”
Organizations have until February 2025 to release transparency documents about their use of AI in accordance with federal AI policy, which was implemented in September 2024.
However, it has turned out to be challenging to understand who makes decisions regarding the specific use of DeepSeek in the federal government. The attorney general’s department, which made the decision , referred inquiries to the Digital Transformation Agency, which in turn referred enquires to the Department of Home Affairs.
Home Affairs was contacted about its official policy on Thursday, but it had not responded by the time of publication.
familiar debates…
By now, Australia’s response to DeepSeek is well known. In response to the concerns over how the Chinese government might access user data, there have been the technology. This is a similar situation to the days when Huawei was barred from the NBN and 5G rollouts in Australia, and more recently, the debate over banning TikTok.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a vocal critic of the Chinese government, stated this week that Australia is unable to continue its current strategy of responding to each new technological development. A tech strategy that included investing in sovereign AI capabilities was required.
It was too early to determine whether DeepSeek was a security risk, according to industry minister Ed Husic on Tuesday.
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We will always be open-minded and watch what happens if there is anything that poses a risk in the interests of the country. I think it ’s too early to jump to conclusions on that, ” he said. “But, again, if we have to act, then responsible governments do. ”
He emphasized that Australia is “in the planning stages” of its response and would create its own regulatory frameworks.
“The US is flagging their approach. The EU has theirs. Canada will have a different strategy as well. Additionally, he said, “our regional partners are looking at this.”
We will localize and harmonise where necessary, and that is how we will approach things. ”
DeepSeek was approached for comment.
… and new inspiration
Australia might take some of what DeepSeek has accomplished.
According to reports, DeepSeek, led by former hedge fund co-founder Liang Wenfeng, prioritized research into developing AI over identifying ways to make money by employing top graduates from Chinese universities or those who are relatively young in their careers.
The Tech Council of Australia– whose members include Microsoft, Atlassian, Google and IBM – argued Australia should adopt a similar approach.
“The process that DeepSeek has taken from going from idea to world-leading technology in less than two years, and they’ve done so employing largely new graduates straight out of universities – this is a model that Australia should be following, ” the lobby group ’s head of policy, Harry Godber, said.
We are home to some of the best AI research being conducted at Australian universities. We also have incredible R and D that Australian businesses like Atlassian and Canva have engaged in. ”
Australia’s newly appointed chief scientist, Tony Haymet, noted on Tuesday how quickly DeepSeek had changed the conversation around AI.
“Privately funded in Shanghai, a bunch of talented 22-year-olds without access to the world’s best chips, without access to Nvidia chips, seem to have created something that ’s even better than the best companies in the western world have done, ” he said.
As the government also considers creating for “high risk ” AI, Husic last year announced plans to develop an AI capability plan by the end of 2025.
The Tech Council’s chief executive, Damian Kassabgi, said Australia stood to benefit from DeepSeek’s demonstrated cost and computing power efficiencies.
He argued, however, that the capability plan wasn’t moving quickly enough as other nations were outpacing.
“ When we look at our R& D investment in Australia, especially business investment, we’re about one-third of that of the US [on GDP spend], ” Kassabgi said. “So we’re not just a little bit behind. ”