The Union finance ministry has asked employees not to use ChatGPT and DeepSeek for official uses amid OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's India visit. Altman said India should play a leading role in artificial intelligence sector.
In a finance department adivisory dated January 29, the ministry warned of risk to confidentiality of government data and documents.
"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 advisory stated.
The advisory surfaced ahead of Altman's meeting with IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday. Altman said India's role in AI is growing, pointing out that the country is OpenAI's second largest market.
His comments came amid the entry of Chinese rival DeepSeek and were in contrast with his earlier remarks about India's AI models. In 2023, Altman claimed that India's chances of building competitive AI models are "hopeless".
Minister Vaishnaw earlier said India would be able to develop its own high-end computing chipset caled GPUs in three to five years, adding that a local foundational AI tool could be possible in 10 months.
