January 28, 2025
Security analysts have urged the Albanese government to impose stringent controls on the use of Chinese-developed artificial intelligence after start-up DeepSeek challenged Silicon Valley’s dominance of the technology arms race.
The warning came as Industry Minister Ed Husic compared DeepSeek to Chinese-owned social media app TikTok on Tuesday while saying the government needed to remain “open-minded” about the potential security threats.
DeepSeek has developed generative AI that claims to be cheaper and more efficient than its US rivals such as ChatGPT in a major shake up the tech sector. The initial success of DeepSeek’s model was achieved despite the Biden administration attempting to limit Chinese firms’ access to microchips and semiconductors that can rapidly process vast amounts of data.
Former Home Affairs Department secretary Mike Pezzullo, who headed the department during the 2018 decision to ban Huawei, said China’s artificial intelligence efforts should be subjected to stringent security controls and barriers.
“All AI research and development has dual civilian and military use, and its widespread and effective application by China in the military sphere could give the People’s Liberation Army a significant combat edge, just as geopolitical tensions will see the probability of confrontation and even conflict rise over the next four to five years,” Mr Pezzullo said.
“Aside from the dual-use problem, there is a significant data risk when China’s AI models are given access to proprietary, confidential, or otherwise closed data.
“Where does the accessed data go? Who else can see it? Can the Ministry of State Security [China’s internal security agency] demand and gain access for instance?”
Chinese telecommunications manufacturer Huawei was banned from supplying equipment from the National Broadband Network under the Gillard government and the 5G telecommunications network in 2018 under the Turnbull government.
In 2023, the Albanese government banned public servants from installing TikTok on government-issued devices after intelligence and security agencies expressed concerns it could be used for surveillance. TikTok says no information is held by the Chinese government.
The government has ruled out a total ban on TikTok. US moves to force TikTok owner Bytedance to divest its shareholding or be banned from the massive US market were put on hold by new President Donald Trump.
Washington has identified AI as one of the key technologies in its geopolitical rivalry with Beijing, applying restrictions on sales of chips and semiconductors as well as the software and tools used to produce them.
The Biden administration characterised its approach as “small yard, high fence” by carefully targeting severe restrictions on technology sales and transfers, rather than a blanket ban, saying last month that it intended to impede China’s “ability to procure and produce the technologies necessary for its military modernisation”.
With DeepSeek already refusing to provide answers on sensitive topics such as 1989’s Tiananmen Square massacre, Mr Pezzullo said there were also concerns over the perception-shaping potential of Chinese-controlled AI.
“It is doubtful for instance that asking such a tool to explain the issue of Taiwan would result in a balanced answer,” he said.
Strategic Analysis Australia director Michael Shoebridge said that as a precaution, the use of Chinese artificial intelligence technology in Australia should be banned until it was better understood.
“There is a real echo of the 5G debate and artificial intelligence is a much more intrusive and powerful technology,” he said.
Mr Shoebridge said despite the Biden administration limiting China’s access to chips, DeepSeek’s leap forward was unsurprising given Beijing had been working on AI for 10 to 15 years, predating US efforts to curb its development.
Mr Husic said it was too soon to know if national security controls would be required on Chinese-controlled AI but likened the product to TikTok.
“It is too early to make that call. We’ll obviously remain open-minded. We’ll clearly be informed by the advice of the national intelligence community in relation to threats, as they might present at different points in time.
“How do we respond? How do we shape up that response? We’ll take that on board and deal with it then.”
Mr Husic urged caution about DeepSeek.
“I think there’ll be parallels to what you’ve seen the discussion around TikTok that emerge around DeepSeek as well. But let’s see how that plays out.
Opposition home affairs and cybersecurity spokesman James Paterson urged the Albanese government to coordinate closely with allies to respond to DeepSeek, warning against allowing it to become a mouthpiece for authoritarian Chinese Communist Party propaganda.
“Deepseek is very much a case of downloader beware. Its privacy policies are clear - everything it collects on users, including the prompts they enter into the app, would be handed over to the Chinese government on request,” he said.
“The information it shares also reflects the Chinese Communist Party’s world view - don’t rely on it if you want to know what happened in Tibet or Tiananmen Square, or Xi Jinping’s designs on Taiwan.
“We must make sure this does not become another tool for authoritarian propaganda, and I hope the Albanese government is closely coordinating a response with our closest allies.”
