The Delhi High Court has asked the Central government to clarify how it plans to address rising concerns surrounding DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence chatbot accused of compromising user privacy and posing risks to national security, reported Bar and Bench.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela on Wednesday directed Central Government Standing Counsel Ishkaran Bhandari to obtain instructions from the concerned ministry and present the Centre’s position at the next hearing.
“You have to take instructions. There is no doubt that this is an issue which needs to be tackled at the initial stage as well. How is the ministry going to tackle this? Please keep it ready,” the Bench remarked, emphasising that potential threats should be addressed proactively rather than retrospectively.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Bhavna Sharma, who argued that platforms like DeepSeek violate users’ privacy and data security, while being “detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India.” The plea seeks court directions to the Centre to formulate guidelines that would restrict or block access to such AI tools in the country.
The Division Bench granted the government additional time to seek instructions and said the matter will be heard along with other similar cases concerning AI regulation. The Delhi High Court had issued a similar directive to the government earlier this year to obtain instructions on the same issue.
