NEW DELHI, Feb 5 (Reuters) - India's finance ministry

has asked its employees to avoid using AI tools including

ChatGPT and DeepSeek for official purposes, citing risks posed

to confidentiality of government documents and data, an internal

department advisory showed.

Countries like Australia and Italy have placed similar

restrictions on the use of DeepSeek, citing data security risks.

Reports of the advisory surfaced on social media on Tuesday,

ahead of a scheduled visit to India by OpenAI chief Sam Altman

on Wednesday, when he is also due to meet the IT minister.

"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,"

said the advisory by the Indian finance ministry dated Jan. 29.

Representatives for India's finance ministry, ChatGPT-parent

OpenAI and DeepSeek did not immediately respond to requests for

comment.

Three finance ministry officials said the note was genuine

and the note was issued internally this week.

Reuters could not immediately confirm whether similar

directives have been issued for other Indian ministries.

OpenAI is facing heat in India due to a high-profile

copyright infringement battle with the country's top media

houses, and has said in court filings that it does not have its

servers in the country and Indian courts should not hear the

matter.

(Reporting by Sarita Chaganti Singh and Nikunj Ohri; Additional

reporting by Munsif Vengattil; Editing by Aditya Kalra)