Ethics and safety·October 19, 2026, 23:49

US agencies barred from using China's DeepSeek

AI-generated from the sources listed, with automated source checks.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has ordered civilian federal agencies to drop DeepSeek and remove the company's products from their IT systems. The order does not apply to private companies or ordinary users.

Civilian agencies in the US must no longer buy or use the Chinese AI service DeepSeek. That is the content of an order from DHS, the US Department of Homeland Security. The agencies must both exclude DeepSeek and affiliated entities from procurement and remove the company's products from their IT systems.

The order also hits third-party products and services built with DeepSeek implementations. That means other companies' tools could also be affected if they rely on DeepSeek's technology.

The notice was filed for public inspection in the Federal Register, the US government's official gazette, on October 19, 2026. Official publication was scheduled for October 20.

Fear of data transfers to China

DHS points to several threat vectors, meaning paths through which a risk can enter. Chinese law gives the authorities access to private infrastructure. When a user creates an account, personal information is collected. And when the user submits a query and gets a response, user data can be transferred.

According to DHS, transferring information to China, alone or combined with publicly available data, can yield useful intelligence on US persons and government programs. DHS also cites possible malware and security vulnerabilities in DeepSeek's iOS app.

First time the law is used against an AI company

The order rests on the 2018 law on federal procurement supply chain security, the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act. According to OfficeChai, it is the first time the law has been used against an AI company.

What does it mean for private users?

The order applies only to civilian federal agencies' systems and procurement. DeepSeek can still be downloaded freely in the US by anyone outside the federal government, and private companies can still use it.

This is not the first move to tighten restrictions on DeepSeek. According to OfficeChai, the Commerce Department introduced an internal restriction on DeepSeek in March 2025. The Navy and several states have also imposed bans. Congress has not passed legislation for a ban.

The sources do not make clear exactly when the original order was issued. It has, however, been in effect for several months.