Overview
- The Department of Homeland Security published a Federal Register notice Tuesday that requires civilian federal agencies to remove DeepSeek products and bars them from buying those tools going forward.
- The department said the order, first signed in late July, rests on findings that DeepSeek’s models present multiple threat vectors because core servers are in China and Chinese law could permit government access to company infrastructure.
- The prohibition covers civilian agencies only and does not apply to the U.S. armed forces or intelligence services.
- China’s foreign ministry defended DeepSeek and pledged to protect Chinese companies while Beijing has floated its own tighter export rules for advanced AI ahead of the planned Trump–Xi meeting at the APEC leaders’ summit in mid‑November.
- DeepSeek’s low‑cost R1 chatbot, launched in January 2025, drew sharp U.S. scrutiny and accusations that Chinese firms used large‑scale ‘distillation’ of U.S. models to build competing systems, a concern that has fed recent U.S. procurement limits and chip export controls.