US orders federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek AI from their systems

The US has ordered federal civilian agencies to stop purchasing services and products from Chinese AI startup DeepSeek and to remove them from government IT systems, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The department cited national security concerns tied to the company's operations in China.

The order is broader than a ban on DeepSeek's own product. It also covers third-party products and services built using DeepSeek technology, though agencies can request exceptions. It applies to both new purchases and systems already in use.

DHS raised concerns about DeepSeek's handling of user data, warning that sensitive information from US government users could potentially be accessible to Chinese authorities under Chinese law, the order said.

China pushed back. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Tuesday that Beijing opposes overstretching the concept of national security and politicizing technology and trade issues, according to an official briefing.

The order builds on earlier restrictions. A law passed in December 2025 targeted DeepSeek's use in intelligence national security systems. The new order extends the limits to the wider civilian government, and by reaching third-party services built on DeepSeek technology it may affect vendors that use its models without being obvious about it.

DeepSeek has challenged US rivals such as OpenAI and Meta with low-cost open-weight models. It has faced scrutiny from governments and regulators worldwide since its R1 model arrived in January 2025. A September US report accused DeepSeek and five other Chinese AI companies, including Alibaba and Moonshot AI, of using large-scale model distillation to extract information from American AI systems.

OpenAI and Anthropic have raised similar concerns. Earlier this year OpenAI told US lawmakers it had observed suspected distillation attempts by DeepSeek, and Anthropic said it had identified unauthorized attempts by DeepSeek and other Chinese labs to collect outputs from Claude.

The exception process is the main open question: the coverage does not say how many agencies use DeepSeek or its derivatives, or how exceptions will be judged.

The dispute may also widen on the Chinese side. Bloomberg reported last week that China is reportedly considering export restrictions on 23 AI-related technologies, including chip designs and certain advanced AI models.