Finance Ministry has issued an advisory instructing its employees not to use AI tools like ChatGPT and DeepSeek for official work due to concerns over the security of government data and documents, Reuters reported. Although the notification is reportedly dated January 29, news of it surfaced only recently, coinciding with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s India visit.
Similar restrictions have been enforced in other countries, including Australia and Italy, where authorities have raised data security concerns over Chinese AI-powered tools like DeepSeek.
“It has been determined that AI tools and AI apps (such as ChatGPT, DeepSeek etc.) in the office computers and devices pose risks for confidentiality of (government) data and documents,” the Reuters report quoted the advisory as saying. Three finance ministry officials told Reuters that the note was genuine and the note was issued internally this week.
The ChatGPT maker is under pressure in India due to a major copyright dispute with leading media houses. In court filings, the company argued that since it has no servers in India, local courts should not handle the case.
Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO is in India for important meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. His visit comes almost a year after he sparked controversy by calling India’s AI ambitions “hopeless.” However, his views now seem to be changing.
