The Department of Homeland Security has ordered U.S. civilian federal agencies to remove DeepSeek products from their IT systems and stop buying them. The move cites the risk that sensitive government data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government.
What does the DeepSeek order require federal agencies to do?
The directive was issued under a 2018 supply chain security law that lets the government cut risky suppliers out of its purchasing. It covers more than DeepSeek’s own products. Tools from other companies that are built on DeepSeek’s AI models are also included. DHS posted notice of the order on the Federal Register website on Monday. The order is dated July 24 and was signed by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, according to Bloomberg.
Why is the government restricting DeepSeek products?
In the order, the government said DeepSeek collects a large amount of user data that could be passed to Beijing under Chinese security laws. The department also said the company’s models pose “multiple threat vectors” and may contain malware or other security vulnerabilities, Reuters reported. The order also bars DeepSeek from taking part in federal contracts.
Which agencies are covered by the DeepSeek ban?
Agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Communications Commission would have to exclude DeepSeek products and remove any existing related products from their systems. The ban applies to civilian agencies, not military or other national security systems covered by the notice.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg. DeepSeek did not comment in either report.
Parts of the government had already restricted the Chinese startup’s tools. A Pentagon IT agency blocked its chatbot in January 2025, and the Commerce Department and the Navy have banned it on work devices. New York, Tennessee and Virginia have taken similar steps. Two members of Congress proposed a bill last year that would ban DeepSeek’s chatbot from government devices.
The order is the latest in a series of actions against Chinese AI companies in Washington. In June, the White House held off on blacklisting DeepSeek and more than 100 other Chinese firms, even after a panel of officials cleared them for a U.S. trade blacklist.
U.S. officials have also accused Chinese AI labs of copying American models through a technique called distillation. In February, OpenAI told lawmakers that DeepSeek had used the method to build its R1 chatbot, Bloomberg reported.
The order arrived days after DeepSeek released its latest model, V4.1-Flash-1017, which the company described as “smarter, faster, more efficient.” The company’s cheaper models have begun to rival offerings such as ChatGPT and Gemini, a shift that has drawn growing attention from U.S. officials.
This article was written with the assistance of AI.
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