The Donald Trump administration has decided to ban products from Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek across federal government information technology systems, citing national security and data leakage concerns.
According to Reuters and other media outlets on the 19th (local time), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a directive instructing federal civilian administrative agencies to remove DeepSeek products from their IT systems.
This measure is grounded in the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act (FASCSA) enacted in 2018, and it also prohibits federal agencies from newly procuring DeepSeek products.
The ban covers not only products directly provided by DeepSeek but also third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek AI models. Consequently, federal agencies will no longer be able to introduce external vendor services utilizing DeepSeek technology.
The Department of Homeland Security determined that DeepSeek’s AI models could pose security threats through various pathways. In particular, it warned that if U.S. government employees or contractors use DeepSeek products, there is a risk that sensitive information could be transferred to China.
It also pointed out that utilizing DeepSeek could generate information capable of being exploited against U.S. citizens or government agencies, and noted the possibility that the AI model itself contains malicious code or other security vulnerabilities.
The Department of Homeland Security’s internal directive released in July also recommended that federal agencies monitor data inflow and outflow traffic on government websites to counter DeepSeek-related security risks.
Previously, some federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Navy, banned the use of DeepSeek on government work devices. Several state governments, including New York, Tennessee, and Virginia, have also implemented similar restriction measures.
This action applies to the IT systems and product procurement of federal civilian administrative agencies, but it does not completely ban the use of DeepSeek by private enterprises or general consumers within the United States.
The Trump administration has recently been continuously tightening regulations on Chinese technology companies and products.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned imports of new Chinese-made drones and home routers last December, and in July decided to restrict the sale in the U.S. of devices containing core components from Chinese companies deemed a national security risk.
The FCC is also scheduled to vote on the 29th on a proposal to exclude all testing laboratories in China from conformity assessments for smartphones, cameras, computers, and other electronic devices used in the United States.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding this measure.
