The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has ordered federal civilian agencies to stop buying products and services from Chinese AI startup DeepSeek and to remove them from government IT systems, citing national security risks linked to the company’s operations in China. The order also covers third-party products built on DeepSeek technology, though agencies may request exceptions.
DHS warned that sensitive data from U.S. government users could potentially be accessed by Chinese authorities under Chinese law. The order extends earlier restrictions, including a December 2025 law targeting DeepSeek’s use in intelligence national security systems.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing opposes stretching the concept of national security too far and politicizing technology and trade, adding that China would firmly protect the rights and interests of its companies.
DeepSeek, whose low-cost open-weight models compete with OpenAI and Meta, has faced global regulatory scrutiny since its R1 reasoning model triggered a sharp Nvidia sell-off in January 2025. A September U.S. report accused DeepSeek and five other Chinese AI firms, including Alibaba and Moonshot AI, of large-scale model distillation. OpenAI and Anthropic have separately reported suspected DeepSeek attempts to distill their models.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that China is considering export restrictions on 23 AI-related technologies, including chip designs and advanced AI models.
