The Department of Homeland Security has ordered U.S. civilian federal agencies to remove DeepSeek products, and any third-party products and services built on the Chinese company's AI models, from their IT systems. The order also bars agencies from buying DeepSeek products and services. DHS made it public on Monday, October 19, and the notice ran in the Federal Register on Tuesday, October 20.

DeepSeek's models "present multiple threat vectors," the order says. Because its apps work by sending prompts to the model, use of them "may result in the transfer of sensitive data to the PRC if used by U.S. government employees or vendors." That data, alone or combined with public information, "could produce actionable intelligence on U.S.…