US Bans DeepSeek AI Across Federal Civilian Agencies
The US Department of Homeland Security has ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek AI technology from government systems due to security risks.
The US Department of Homeland Security ordered federal civilian agencies to stop buying and using products and services from Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. The order requires agencies to remove DeepSeek technology from government IT systems due to national security concerns.
The mandate covers DeepSeek's own tools as well as third-party products built using its technology. Federal agencies can request exceptions if necessary.
This decision expands earlier US actions. A law passed in December 2025 previously targeted DeepSeek's use within national security systems for intelligence agencies.
Why is the US banning DeepSeek?
The Department of Homeland Security raised concerns about how DeepSeek handles user data. The department warned that under Chinese law, sensitive information from US government users could potentially be accessed by Chinese authorities.
The US has also accused DeepSeek and five other Chinese AI companies, including Alibaba and Moonshot AI, of using model distillation. Model distillation is a technique where outputs from one AI model are used to train another. OpenAI and Anthropic both reported observing unauthorized attempts by DeepSeek to gather outputs from their systems to train its own models.
How has China responded?
China opposed the US ban. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that Beijing opposes politicizing technology and trade issues, adding that China will safeguard the legitimate rights of its enterprises.
Separately, reports indicate China is considering its own export restrictions on 23 AI-related technologies to address security and misuse risks. These restrictions could cover chip designs and specific advanced AI models.
Why it matters for businesses
DeepSeek has impacted the global tech market since releasing its R1 reasoning model in January 2025, which challenged US competitors like OpenAI and Meta by providing low-cost open-weight models.
However, DeepSeek has faced increased scrutiny from global governments and regulators. Organizations that build software using third-party AI integrations should note that government restrictions now apply not just to DeepSeek's direct products, but also to third-party tools built on top of its technology.
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