DeepSeek AI tools banned from US government agency systems as rift with China grows

US civilian agencies have been ordered to stop using DeepSeek and remove it from government systems DHS cited data security, user tracking, and potential national security risks tied to the AI model The move expands broader US restrictions on Chinese technology across government infrastructure The Donald Trump administration has banned Chinese Artificial Intelligence model DeepSeek from all civilian government agencies and ordered them to stop using it and remove it from its tech stack immediately.

Earlier this week, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a new notice, notifying government agencies of the change: “The Department of Homeland Security is publishing notice of the Secretary of Homeland Security’s issuance of an order (1) excluding information technology products and services developed by Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd (DeepSeek), to include affiliated entities as defined in applicable regulations, from federal civilian agency procurements; and, (2) removing all DeepSeek and DeepSeek-affiliate products, and third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek implementations, from civilian agency information technology.” Multiple threat vectors Apparently, this is not the first time the Trump administration made moves against Chinese AI tech.

According to CNBC , the order was originally issued in late July this year, and applies to federal civilian agencies including the Treasury, State and Justice departments, but excluding the Department of Defense.

The publication also said the US Congress restricted the use of DeepSeek in intelligence community systems late last year, and even earlier - in March - the US Commerce Department told its staff not to use DeepSeek.

The Defense Information Systems Agency banned it in January 2025.

In the latest DHS order, it was said that DeepSeek’s models “present multiple threat vectors”.

To use the tool, users need to provide all sorts of data - from personally identifiable information (PII) to other business or proprietary information, which the company can use to “track and digitally fingerprint users”.

Furthermore, China’s laws allow the government to easily access and collect the data created and stored by private companies, meaning information on US citizens can easily fall into the government’s hands.

That, in turn, “could produce actionable intelligence on US persons and/or government programs,” the DHS explains.

“The models themselves may contain malware or other security vulnerabilities,” it stressed.