Homeland Security bans DeepSeek from federal civilian agency systems
by Mary McCue Bell · The Washington TimesThe Department of Homeland Security has ordered federal civilian agencies to stop buying and remove products from Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek, according to a notice published Tuesday.
The order bans products and services from Hangzhou-based DeepSeek and its affiliates from civilian agency procurements, according to a notice in the Federal Register.
It also requires the removal of all products, plus third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek implementations, from civilian agency IT.
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In an order written in July and made public Monday, DHS said DeepSeek models present “multiple threat vectors.”
The department raised concerns that DeepSeek’s account creation collects personally identifiable information and may track and digitally fingerprint users, adding that its models might contain malware or other security vulnerabilities.
DeepSeek could transfer sensitive data to China if used by U.S. government employees or vendors, DHS said.
“The transfer of the aforementioned information to the [People’s Republic of China], either independently or in combination with publicly available data, could produce actionable intelligence on U.S. persons and/or government programs,” the July order reads.
In response, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters that the country “will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.
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“China consistently opposes the overstretching of the concept of national security,” she added.
DHS’ move comes as Washington and Beijing race to champion AI initiatives.
It also follows other federal restrictions against DeepSeek.
In January 2025, the Navy barred personnel from using DeepSeek technology, and the Defense Information Systems Agency blocked access to DeepSeek’s website on Pentagon networks. In March, Commerce Department bureaus told staff that DeepSeek was banned on official government devices.
The fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act was signed into law last December with a provision banning the DeepSeek application from national security systems within the U.S. intelligence community.
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Mary McCue Bell
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