US Orders Federal Agencies to Remove DeepSeek AI from Government Systems
The United States has ordered federal civilian agencies to stop purchasing services and products developed by Chinese AI startup DeepSeek and to remove them from government IT systems, citing national security concerns tied to the company's operations in China, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Scope of the Order
The directive extends beyond banning DeepSeek's own products: it also covers third-party products and services built using DeepSeek technology, though agencies may request exceptions.
Data Security Concerns
The 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, according to the order.
Rising US-China AI Competition
The move comes amid intensifying technological competition in AI between the US and China. DeepSeek's low-cost, open-weight models have challenged US rivals including OpenAI and Meta.
China Pushes Back
Beijing has pushed back against the US action. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Tuesday that China opposes "overstretching the concept of national security and politicizing technology and trade issues," according to an official briefing. "We will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," the spokesperson added.
Expanding Restrictions
The US had already taken steps to limit DeepSeek's use in government. A law passed in December 2025 targeted its use in intelligence national security systems. The latest order extends the restrictions to federal civilian agencies, covering both new purchases and existing IT systems.
Meanwhile, China is reportedly considering export restrictions on 23 AI-related technologies, including chip designs and certain advanced AI models, to address security and misuse risks, Bloomberg reported last week.
Global Scrutiny and Distillation Allegations
The Chinese AI lab has faced scrutiny from governments and regulators worldwide since its R1 reasoning model shook the AI industry in January 2025, triggering a sharp sell-off in Nvidia shares.
The US has 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, according to a September report.
In addition, OpenAI and Anthropic have separately raised concerns about DeepSeek's alleged use of model distillation, a technique that uses outputs from one AI model to train another. Earlier this year, OpenAI told US lawmakers it had observed suspected attempts by DeepSeek to distill its models, while Anthropic said it had identified unauthorized attempts by DeepSeek and other Chinese AI labs to collect outputs from Claude.
via TechCrunch AI