Ravi NayyarSince yesterday, DeepSeek's been banned from Cth systems and devices: https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/protective-security-directions-under-pspf
Excellent.
South Australia follows the Cth in banning DeepSeek from government systems.
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/sa-gov-follows-feds-in-blocking-deepseek-614794
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/sa-gov-follows-feds-in-blocking-deepseek-614794
But folks, if the Chinese don't need fancy hardware and scale to train their AI models, why bother with the alleged industrial espionage here?
Seriously, given that people fell for that DeepSeek 'cheap to train!' narrative and crashed stock markets, I am not surprised so many of us fall for scams.
Press release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/superseding-indictment-charges-chinese-national-relation-alleged-plan-steal
Superseding Indictment Charges Chinese National In Relation To Alleged Plan To Steal Proprietary AI Technology
SAN FRANCISCO – A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment today charging Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, 38, with seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets in connection with an alleged plan to steal from Google LLC (Google) proprietary information related to artificial intelligence (AI) technology
Queensland, Western Australia, the ACT and the Northern Territory also ban DeepSeek from government devices.
Good.
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/most-australian-states-and-territories-ban-deepseek-614813
To make a more general point, when I hear that our universities are a source of 'soft power', I do chuckle.
Our universities do not allow us to (reliably) practise what the Soviets called 'reflexive control' over foreign graduates when they go back home and run their industries, civil societies and governments.
Of course, we don't know the extent to which Allied Huminters recruit foreign students as long-term agents while they're on our campi.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-07/australian-uni-student-helped-create-deepseek/104906874
Excellent, though I wonder how Seoul navigates the geopolitics of this.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/south-koreas-industry-ministry-temporarily-bans-access-deepseek-security-2025-02-05/
https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/south-koreas-industry-ministry-temporarily-bans-access-deepseek-security-2025-02-05/
Beauty, but I wonder how this affects their efforts to get more PRC students.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/top-university-bans-chinese-ai-app-deepseek-another-strongly-encourages-staff-not-to-use-it/news-story/6ea8d1d01f7a76914afc676037aacbeb
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/top-university-bans-chinese-ai-app-deepseek-another-strongly-encourages-staff-not-to-use-it/news-story/6ea8d1d01f7a76914afc676037aacbeb
On the reading list.
https://www.csis.org/analysis/deepseek-huawei-export-controls-and-future-us-china-ai-race
https://www.csis.org/analysis/deepseek-huawei-export-controls-and-future-us-china-ai-race
DeepSeek, Huawei, Export Controls, and the Future of the U.S.-China AI Race
In Gregory C. Allen’s latest report, he examines DeepSeek’s origins, achievements, and geopolitical impact, highlighting its implications for AI and semiconductor export controls. The report explores challenges for policymakers in the evolving U.S.-China tech race.