SOURCE / ECONOMY
Australia’s ban on DeepSeek reflects ideological bias, aligning with US restrictions on Chinese tech: expert
Published: Feb 05, 2025 01:11 PM
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Australia has banned all services from Chinese tech company DeepSeek on government systems and devices, a move that Chinese AI experts on Wednesday criticized as ideologically driven and indicative of some Western countries' inability to assess China's technological rise fairly and objectively.

DeepSeek has been banned from Australian federal government computers and mobile devices after authorities deemed it "an unacceptable risk" to national security, Australian media ABC reported. 

Under the new ban, all government bodies, except corporate organizations like Australia Post and the ABC, must immediately remove all DeepSeek products from their devices, the report said.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke claimed the decision was based on security risks to government systems and assets, rather than because of the app's country of origin - China, according to Guardian. 

The ban follows similar moves by US agencies including NASA and the Pentagon. Besides, Italy's data protection authority has reportedly blocked access to DeepSeek.

"Australia's move is clearly driven by ideological discrimination, not technological concerns," Liu Wei, director of the Human-Machine Interaction and Cognitive Engineering Laboratory at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, told the Global Times. "When US federal agencies take steps to contain Chinese technology, Australia seems compelled to follow suit," the expert added.

"If Australia were genuinely citing technological risks to national security, it should also have blocked US-based OpenAI and other tech companies that have integrated with DeepSeek. Yet, there is no indication that the Australian government will take similar action against US-based AI firms," Liu stated.

Chinese technology has not been treated fairly and objectively, the Chinese AI expert emphasized. 

DeepSeek has rapidly ascended the global download rankings, with numerous experts highlighting its capability to provide intricate answers while requiring minimal computational power.

Accusations to smear the Chinese tech company are entirely unfounded and lack any solid basis, Zhang Linghan, from China University of Political Science and Law and also a Chinese expert of the High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

They seem to reflect more of the Western world's futile attempts to suppress Chinese technological advancements, underscoring the growing anxiety over China's expanding technological influence, Zhang noted. 

The global sensation and anxiety sparked by DeepSeek demonstrates that technological containment and restrictions do not work. This is a lesson the whole world, especially the US, should learn, said Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), in response to a question regarding DeepSeek and AI cooperation between China and the US. 

"From Huawei to TikTok, and now to DeepSeek - how many more does the US want to impose a ban [on]?" Fu asked.

"We don't need more bans," Fu pointed out, noting that China and the US, as two leading nations in AI, cannot afford not to cooperate. "Only through joint efforts can we bridge the digital and intelligence divide, particularly ensuring that the Global South benefits equally in AI development," he stressed.

"Providing the world with a public good, a tool that benefits the nation and its people, and an inclusive instrument is an unstoppable force," Qin An, deputy director of the expert committee on counter-terrorism and cyber security governance at the China Society of Police Law, told the Global Times. 

The best way to counter those attempting to undermine Chinese innovation is to leverage our strength and let the world experience DeepSeek's technological advantages, Qin said.