- DHS issued Exclusion and Removal Order #2026-01, barring civilian US federal agencies from using DeepSeek products or services, citing national security risk.
- The order, issued under the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018, also covers third-party products built on DeepSeek‘s models.
- DHS cited risk of sensitive data transfer to the PRC, potential intelligence gathering on US persons, and possible malware in DeepSeek‘s models.
- The ban follows earlier US scrutiny of DeepSeek, including a government benchmark that found its models lag top US systems.
What Happened
The Department of Homeland Security posted a notice barring civilian US government agencies from using products or services from Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, and from awarding it federal contracts, according to a Bloomberg report published October 19, 2026. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin signed the measure, Exclusion and Removal Order #2026-01, under the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018.
Why It Matters
The order extends a run of US actions against the Chinese lab. A government benchmark earlier found DeepSeek’s models running roughly eight months behind leading US systems, and the White House has separately accused China of using DeepSeek releases to benefit from stolen American AI research.
Technical Details
DHS said the order reaches beyond DeepSeek’s own apps: it also covers “third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek implementations,” pulling downstream tools built on its open models into the ban for civilian agencies. The agency cited three threat vectors — transfer of sensitive data to the PRC, generation of “actionable intelligence” on US persons or agencies, and the possibility that DeepSeek’s models contain malware or other vulnerabilities.
Who’s Affected
Civilian federal agencies must now strip DeepSeek products from their IT systems, and vendors building government-adjacent tools on DeepSeek’s models are barred from federal contracts. DeepSeek itself continues to expand commercially elsewhere, including a recently backed robotics lab.
What’s Next
Separate legislation aimed at extending similar restrictions to federal contractors using Chinese AI systems is also moving through Congress, Cyberscoop reported. DHS has not published a compliance deadline for agencies to complete removal.
