US orders federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek AI products and services from government IT systems
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has ordered federal civilian agencies to stop buying DeepSeek products and services and to remove them from government IT systems, citing national security concerns. The order also covers third-party products and services built on DeepSeek technology, though agencies may request exceptions. DHS warned that sensitive data from US government users could be accessible to Chinese authorities under Chinese law. China's Foreign Ministry rejected the move as politicizing technology and trade issues. The order extends a December 2025 law that restricted DeepSeek in intelligence and national security systems.
Technical Details
- The order covers both new purchases and existing deployments in federal civilian agencies.
- The main stated risk is data handling: user data could be reachable by Chinese authorities.
- A September report accused DeepSeek and five other Chinese AI companies, including Alibaba and Moonshot AI, of large-scale model distillation to extract information from American AI systems.
- OpenAI told US lawmakers it had observed suspected DeepSeek distillation attempts. Anthropic said it had identified unauthorized attempts by DeepSeek and other Chinese AI labs to collect outputs from Claude.
- Bloomberg reported that China is considering export restrictions on 23 AI-related technologies.
Remediation
- Federal civilian agencies must inventory and remove DeepSeek products and services, including third-party offerings built on DeepSeek technology.
- Agencies that need to keep a product must request an exception.
- Organizations outside government could review their own use of DeepSeek and downstream products as a precaution. The article does not say this.
Linha do tempo
-
US orders federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek AI products and services from government IT systems
ler a análise desta fonte ocultar
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has ordered federal civilian agencies to stop buying DeepSeek products and services and to remove them from government IT systems, citing national security concerns. The order also covers third-party products and services built on DeepSeek technology, though agencies may request exceptions. DHS warned that sensitive data from US government users could be accessible to Chinese authorities under Chinese law. China's Foreign Ministry rejected the move as politicizing technology and trade issues. The order extends a December 2025 law that restricted DeepSeek in intelligence and national security systems.
Technical Details
- The order covers both new purchases and existing deployments in federal civilian agencies.
- The main stated risk is data handling: user data could be reachable by Chinese authorities.
- A September report accused DeepSeek and five other Chinese AI companies, including Alibaba and Moonshot AI, of large-scale model distillation to extract information from American AI systems.
- OpenAI told US lawmakers it had observed suspected DeepSeek distillation attempts. Anthropic said it had identified unauthorized attempts by DeepSeek and other Chinese AI labs to collect outputs from Claude.
- Bloomberg reported that China is considering export restrictions on 23 AI-related technologies.
Remediation
- Federal civilian agencies must inventory and remove DeepSeek products and services, including third-party offerings built on DeepSeek technology.
- Agencies that need to keep a product must request an exception.
- Organizations outside government could review their own use of DeepSeek and downstream products as a precaution. The article does not say this.