The Ministry of Finance ordered its employees to avoid using tools fueled by AI, including Chatgpt and Deepseek, for official work, citing risks for the confidentiality of government documents and data, reported press agency Reuters.
The directive, which would have been published through an internal opinion dated January 29, underlines increasing concerns concerning data security and the potential exposure of government information sensitive to external AI platforms.
“It has been determined that AI tools and AI applications (such as Chatgpt, Deepseek, etc.) in computers and office devices have risks for data and documents (government) confidentiality” , said the opinion of the Ministry of Finance.
Development comes just one day before the planned visit to the Openai chief, chef Sam Altman in India on February 7, during which he should meet IT Minister Ashwini Vahnaw.
The reports of the opinion surfaced on social networks Tuesday, January 4, fueling speculation on the position of the Indian government on the regulation of the AI.
India’s decision follows similar restrictions imposed by countries like Australia and Italy, which have prohibited Deepseek on data security risks.
Three officials of the Ministry of Finance confirmed the authenticity of the opinion of ReutersAdding that he was broadcast internally this week. However, it is not clear if similar prohibitions have been issued by other Indian ministries.
The opinion comes at a time when Openai faces legal problems in India, in particular a trial for copyright compared to the best Indian media houses.
In legal files, Openai argued that he did not have servers in India and that the Indian courts should not hear the case.