The U.S. has ordered federal civilian agencies to remove products developed by Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek from their information technology systems and banned the use of related technology. The order cites concerns about the potential exposure of sensitive government data to Chinese authorities.
The order, issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in July and made public Monday, prohibits civilian agencies from purchasing third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek technology.
DHS said the use of the technology “present multiple threat vectors,” and “may result in the transfer of sensitive data to the PRC if used by US government employees or vendors.”
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The notice states that the ban applies to the Department of the Treasury, the Department of State and the Department of Justice but excludes the Department of Defense. The order does not establish a blanket ban on DeepSeek’s use by private individuals or businesses across the country.
DHS also raised concerns that the model could contain malware or other security vulnerabilities and generate information that could be used by foreign actors targeting U.S. government agencies and individuals.
Federal agencies can request exceptions to the order by submitting a written justification to DHS within 60 days of the order’s issuance.
Meanwhile, Beijing has strongly opposed the U.S. ban, accusing Washington of using national security concerns as a justification to restrict the growth of Chinese technology companies.
Reacting to the ban, Chinese spokesperson Mao Ning told Reuters, “China consistently opposes the over-generalization of national security as well as the politicization of science, technology and trade issues.”
China’s Ministry of Commerce also expressed dissatisfaction with the move. The ministry said the U.S. had disregarded the broader relationship between the two countries and the understanding reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump.
“China will closely monitor the situation and take all necessary measures to firmly defend its legitimate rights and interests,” the ministry said in a statement.
DHS had issued guidance in July directing federal agencies to monitor data traffic to and from government websites to address potential risks associated with DeepSeek.
The U.S. has also accused DeepSeek of using “distillation” involving AI models developed by U.S. technology companies. Distillation is a method in which one AI model is trained using the outputs of another. However, Beijing has rejected these allegations.
The move comes as the U.S. and China continue to compete for global leadership in artificial intelligence. Chinese AI models are gaining traction among users because many are open-source and available at a fraction of the cost of models developed by U.S. companies, such as Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s Codex.
Even as both countries compete for technological leadership, Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to establish a communication channel for sharing information about AI-related incidents during Xi’s state visit to Washington in September.
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Both sides also agreed to reduce tariffs on approximately $60 billion worth of goods, marking a step toward easing trade tensions.
Trump and Xi are expected to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, and the G20 summit in Florida in December.