DHS Orders DeepSeek Out of Federal Agency Systems
The order, signed in July and made public on Monday, tells every civilian federal agency to strip DeepSeek products from its systems — including third-party tools built on its models — over data-security fears.
The Department of Homeland Security has ordered artificial intelligence technology from the Chinese company DeepSeek removed from the computer systems of every federal civilian agency. The order was made public on Monday through a Federal Register filing, though it was signed nearly three months earlier.
The order, numbered 2026-01, was signed on July 24 by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. It bars agencies from buying DeepSeek products and tells them to remove what they already have, immediately. The rule covers not just DeepSeek’s own products but “third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek implementations.”
That second part is the wide one. DeepSeek releases its models as open weights, so its technology shows up inside other companies’ tools. The order does not name those products or say how agencies should treat a DeepSeek model running on an American company’s servers.
The order rests on the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018, following a recommendation from the Federal Acquisition Security Council. It names Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd. and its affiliated companies.
DHS said DeepSeek’s models present “multiple threat vectors.” The order says their use “may result in the transfer of sensitive data to the PRC” and could “produce actionable intelligence on US persons and/or government agencies.” It says the models “may contain malware or other security vulnerabilities” and could be used to track or digitally fingerprint users.
The order covers civilian agencies only. National security systems and the intelligence community are outside it. Reuters, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, CyberScoop and Quartz all reported the notice on Monday.
Agencies can ask for more time or an exemption, in writing, within 60 days of the order’s issuance, with what DHS calls a compelling justification. The department’s cybersecurity agency handles the requests. The public notice appeared only after that 60-day window had already closed.
The crackdown has been building. The Commerce Department banned DeepSeek from government devices last year, the Navy told its members not to use the model, and New York State barred it from government devices and networks.
DeepSeek stunned the tech industry with its R1 model in 2025. Built with less powerful chips and at a fraction of the cost of competing systems, it beat American rivals’ models in several complex tests. Millions of Americans downloaded the free app. A full U.S. ban was discussed at the time.
The order surfaced two days after DeepSeek released its newest model, V4.1-Flash-1017, on October 17. The Federal Register is scheduled to publish the notice on Tuesday.
