Us Orders Civilian Agencies To Remove Deepseek Products
A Homeland Security order bars federal civilian agencies from buying DeepSeek-related products and requires their removal from government systems, citing data and security concerns.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has ordered federal civilian agencies to stop buying products and services developed by Chinese AI company DeepSeek and remove them from existing government IT systems. According to TechCrunch, the restriction also covers third-party products and services built with DeepSeek technology, although agencies can request exceptions.
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What the order covers
The directive applies across federal civilian agencies. Engadget reported that agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Communications Commission must exclude DeepSeek products from use and remove related products already in their systems. Engadget also said the DHS notice bars DeepSeek from participating in federal government contracts.
The scope extends beyond DeepSeek’s own apps or models, according to TechCrunch: a product supplied by another company can also fall under the order if it uses DeepSeek technology. That makes the restriction relevant to both purchases agencies might make next and technology they already operate. TechCrunch reported that agencies may seek exceptions, but did not describe how many, if any, might be granted.
Why DHS acted
DHS cited concerns that sensitive information associated with U.S. government users could become accessible to Chinese authorities under Chinese law, TechCrunch reported. Engadget said the agency’s notice raised the possibility that data belonging to government employees and vendors could be transferred to the Chinese government. Engadget also reported that DHS warned DeepSeek models might contain malware or other security vulnerabilities. These are risks identified by the department, not reported findings that a transfer or compromise occurred.
China objected to the U.S. move. According to TechCrunch, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing opposes treating technology and trade matters as national security issues and would defend the interests of Chinese companies.
Earlier restrictions and AI competition
The civilian-agency order follows other U.S. government attention to DeepSeek. TechCrunch reported that a law passed in December 2025 targeted its use in intelligence national security systems; the new directive reaches federal civilian agencies. Engadget separately noted that two members of Congress proposed a bill last year to prohibit DeepSeek’s chatbot on government devices.
Engadget reported that the order came shortly after DeepSeek released a model called V4.1-Flash-1017. Both outlets described the company’s lower-cost AI models as competitors to U.S. offerings. TechCrunch also reported that OpenAI and Anthropic have raised concerns about alleged attempts by DeepSeek to use outputs from their models to train its own. Those allegations are separate from the data-handling and system-security concerns DHS cited for the civilian-agency order.
Sources
This story was compiled by AI from the reports below. Read the originals for the full details.