The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has ordered federal civilian agencies to remove applications from the Chinese AI company DeepSeek from their IT systems.
Third-party products and services that use DeepSeek technology are also covered by the ban. Federal agencies may no longer purchase DeepSeek products, according to SiliconANGLE.
The measure stems from a security assessment by the Federal Acquisition Security Council. That organization identified several potential risks associated with DeepSeek’s AI models.
According to the DHS, DeepSeek exposes sensitive government information to Chinese authorities. The department also warns that DeepSeek’s systems could monitor users. The government asserts that the Chinese Communist Party could access sensitive information through the AI technology, jeopardizing federal IT infrastructure.
Third-party applications
The decision is based on the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018, which allows the U.S. government to exclude technologies that pose a risk to supply chain security.
The measure goes beyond banning the DeepSeek application. Federal agencies must also remove third-party solutions that incorporate the company’s technology. This has implications for software vendors that have integrated DeepSeek models into their solutions. The restrictions do not apply to private companies or individual users.
Increasing restrictions on Chinese AI
The decision further tightens the restrictions the U.S. government has imposed on DeepSeek. The company made headlines early last year by introducing its R1 reasoning model. This model demonstrated competitive performance, although it reportedly required far less computing power than its U.S. alternatives. The rapid adoption of R1 raised concerns among U.S. authorities about data security and the Chinese government’s potential influence.
Several government agencies had already imposed restrictions. For example, the U.S. Navy prohibited employees from using DeepSeek’s AI technology, and the Department of Commerce blocked the application. New York also prohibited the use of the application on state-owned devices and networks.
Despite the restrictions, DeepSeek continues to develop its models. The recently released V4.1 Flash-1017 model focuses on faster processing and improved reasoning and programming capabilities.
The latest federal directive may complicate the adoption of these models by software vendors serving the U.S. government. This applies particularly to vendors that integrate DeepSeek technology into broader AI platforms.