By The Sampadak Express
The Finance Ministry of India has issued an internal advisory prohibiting employees from using artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek on official devices due to data security and confidentiality concerns. The directive, which was issued on January 29, 2025, highlights the risks posed by AI applications in handling sensitive government documents.
This decision is part of a broader global trend, with countries like Australia and Italy also imposing similar restrictions over fears of misuse of confidential information by AI tools. The advisory came to light on Tuesday, just a day before OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s scheduled visit to India, where he is expected to meet with the country’s IT Minister.
According to the advisory, AI tools and apps, including ChatGPT and DeepSeek, can compromise the security of government data. It states that using these AI tools on office computers and devices poses significant risks to confidentiality and data protection.
Although representatives from the Indian Finance Ministry, OpenAI (the parent company of ChatGPT), and DeepSeek have not provided comments on the advisory, three senior officials within the Ministry have confirmed its authenticity. They stated that the directive was implemented internally this week to limit AI tool usage for government-related tasks.
The scope of the advisory remains unclear as it has not been confirmed whether similar restrictions will be applied across other government ministries. This comes amidst ongoing global concerns about the security implications of AI tools in official communications.
In addition to the data security issues, OpenAI is currently facing legal challenges in India. Several prominent media organizations have accused the company of copyright infringement. OpenAI has responded by claiming that it does not operate servers within India and that Indian courts should not have jurisdiction over the case.
Meanwhile, OpenAI has been enhancing its ChatGPT platform, which now supports dynamic interactions such as image and voice inputs in addition to text-based queries, further broadening its capabilities.
The advisory and growing legal scrutiny highlight the ongoing challenges surrounding AI tools’ integration into official workflows, especially in sensitive sectors.
