India Bans AI Tools in Finance Ministry Advisory

India's Finance Ministry has banned the use of AI tools like ChatGPT and DeepSeek for official purposes due to concerns over the confidentiality of government data and documents. An internal advisory issued on January 29 warns that these AI tools pose significant risks to data security, prompting the ministry to instruct all departments to avoid using them on office devices. This directive coincides with a visit by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to India and reflects similar restrictions imposed by countries like Australia and Italy. The advisory has drawn attention amid ongoing legal challenges faced by OpenAI in India over copyright infringement allegations. Additionally, the Indian government is considering hosting AI models like DeepSeek locally to address data privacy concerns. The ban is part of a broader scrutiny of AI tools globally, particularly those with potential links to foreign governments, such as China.