OTTAWA — The federal government is barring the use of Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek’s chatbot on government devices over “serious privacy concerns” and fears the company could inappropriately collect and retain sensitive data.

In a memo to government heads on Thursday, the government’s Chief Information Officer Dominic Rochon said the Chinese-owned app — which unexpectedly became one of the world’s most downloaded last week — is now banned on devices and networks overseen by Shared Services Canada (SSC).