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Today

Call to extend DeepSeek ban beyond government devices

Cybersecurity analysts say critical infrastructure providers should also be ordered not to use the Chinese-developed artificial intelligence platform.

  • Andrew Tillett
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey says insurers will return $140 million to the public health system by paying higher room rates.

Why Trump needs to know about Australia’s super funds

Super funds can help fund America’s AI race against China. This could be Australia’s bargaining chip with the president on tariffs, Daniel Mookhey says.

  • Matthew Cranston
Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai.

Google playing catch-up on the hottest AI consumer trend of the year

AI agents can take over consumers’ web browsers to order groceries or book a restaurant for dinner. Google says its assistant is coming later this year.

  • Tess Bennett
Lorikeet founders Steve Hind and Jamie Hall.

Australian start-up Lorikeet cracks $100m valuation in AI agent boom

Lorikeet builds AI-powered agents to help companies process customer service tickets. But even its chief executive is wary of the buzz around his industry.

  • Amelia McGuire

Yesterday

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burk has taken action against the use of DeepSeek in government.

Labor bans DeepSeek from government devices

Australia has banned Chinese artificial intelligence service DeepSeek from government devices over national security concerns.

  • Ronald Mizen and Paul Smith
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Westpac’s business banking is growing again.

Westpac to offer legal services as it vies for business bank customers

The big four bank has made a strategic $10 million investment in Lawpath, as it looks to maintain its recent market share gains.

  • James Eyers
Tactiq co-founders Ksenia Svechnikova and Nick Nikolaiev raised $US10 million last year for the AI start-up.

AI boom leads start-up funding recovery in $4b year

New data lifts the lid on private tech investment in Australia, with a quarter of the money going to firms building products based on artificial intelligence.

  • Tess Bennett

This Month

An OpenAI spokesperson said China-based firms were trying to distil the models of leading US AI companies.

AustralianSuper tipped $500m into Nvidia before DeepSeek crash

Australia’s largest super fund was buying up shares in the chipmaker in the lead up to last week’s trillion-dollar sell-off, Wall Street records indicate.

  • Joshua Peach
There are growing calls for better protection against AI deepfakes ahead of this year’s federal election.

Audio deepfakes ‘the most effective we’ve seen so far’, says Microsoft

The technology company and a group of crossbench MPs say Australia needs better protections against AI and interference in election campaigns.

  • Tom McIlroy
Alibaba’s cloud unit has announced price cuts of up to 97 per cent on a range of models, spurred by DeepSeek’s lower costs.

Alibaba claims its AI model is even better than DeepSeek

A series of Chinese companies are working to beat DeekSeek in the artificial intelligence race, with tech giant Alibaba touting its new model.

  • Eduardo Baptista
AI is transforming the funds management industry.

How the rise of AI is changing the investment game

As machine learning and algorithms evolve, the fund management industry will likely shift toward a hybrid model, combining the strengths of humans and machines.

  • Arian Neiron

January

DeepSeek, a Chinese-owned open-source artificial intelligence platform, was developed with far less investment, time, and infrastructure than its US big tech competitors.

Australia should lean on natural advantages in AI race

We need scientists and technology experts embedded in company boardrooms, political offices and regulatory bodies.

  • The AFR View
AFR Weekend surveyed several fund managers about their thoughts on the emergence of DeepSeek.

Is Nvidia a ‘buy’ after crashing 15pc? Here’s what top fundies say

AFR Weekend asked some of the nation’s top investors what they think the emergence of Chinese disruptor DeepSeek means for the US chipmakers future.

  • Joanne Tran
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg and MMA fighter Brandon Moreno, demonstrate some augmented reality glasses during its Meta Connect event last September.

Is big tech’s AI future really what we’re looking for?

The race is on to build the fastest, most efficient AI models and hopefully tech companies will start developing the products we want to use.

  • Paul Smith
Mintoaur Capital’s Armina Rosenberg.

DeepSeek development cost probably 100 times the sticker price: fundie

AI-enabled hedge fund manager Armina Rosenberg says that if DeepSeek truly had access to as many chips as it claims, the breakthrough would have cost about $1 billion.

  • Updated
  • Joanne Tran
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DeepSeek drama: are markets all-in on the most dangerous idea in history?

While investors fret about what the arrival of DeepSeek means for their all-in bet on American artificial intelligence dominance, they’re ignoring even bigger questions. 

  • James Thomson
As AI and other technologies become more accessible, it’s not the tools that matter most but how we use them.

DeepSeek is Sputnik and Apollo in one moonshot

The Chinese-built AI model is proof that the most innovative breakthroughs don’t come from boundless resources – they come from constraints.

  • Elli Hanson
The open-source DeepSeek has matched ChatGPT without the secrecy and expense of the US platform.

AI war highlights need to work with both superpowers

Readers’ letters on the artificial intelligence race between the US and China, road tax for electric vehicles and life with limited mobility.

SoftBank is in talks to invest as much as $US25 billion ($40 billion) into OpenAI.

SoftBank in talks to invest $40b in OpenAI

The deal would make the Japanese group the biggest financial backer of the ChatGPT maker.

  • Arash Massoudi, David Keohane and George Hammond
Mark Zuckerberg says he will be shocked if all glasses wearers are not AI glasses wearers soon.

DeepSeek, Trump, smart glasses: why Zuckerberg thinks he can win in AI

Everyone wanted to hear what the Meta boss thinks about the arrival of DeepSeek and the future of AI – this morning he told us.

  • Paul Smith

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/artificial-intelligence-5ui