In a recent advisory, the Indian Finance Ministry has directed its employees to refrain from using artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek for official tasks, citing potential risks to confidential government data and documents.
The advisory underscores that these AI tools, when used on office computers and devices, could compromise the confidentiality of sensitive information. This warning comes as the IT Ministry acknowledges that privacy concerns related to AI tools like DeepSeek could be mitigated by hosting open-source models on Indian servers.
Union Minister for Railways and Electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, announced India’s plans to develop its own safe and responsible AI model to compete on a global scale. According to Vaishnaw, the Indian AI model aims to position the country as a reliable leader in ethical AI solutions in the coming years.
DeepSeek, a Chinese AI application, has been under increasing scrutiny worldwide. Dutch authorities recently launched an investigation into its privacy practices, raising questions about how the app handles users’ personal data. Other countries have imposed similar restrictions on AI tools.
To address privacy concerns, Indian servers will host the new Chinese AI platform DeepSeek. However, the platform’s arrival has sparked worries about user safety, given its development by a Chinese AI company. DeepSeek is being positioned as an alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, amid reports of probes by OpenAI and Microsoft into whether DeepSeek copied their APIs.
Speaking at an event in the national capital, OpenAI Co-founder and CEO Sam Altman highlighted India’s significance in the AI market. Altman noted that India is OpenAI’s second-largest market globally and emphasized the potential for India to lead in AI technology. “Models are still not cheap, but they are doable. India should be a leader there of course,” Altman stated.
