US orders federal civilian agencies off DeepSeek; China's foreign ministry objects
In short
The US Department of Homeland Security has ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek products, including third-party products built on its technology, from their information systems, Chinese outlets reported on 20 October. Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China opposes generalising the concept of national security and politicising technology and trade issues.
Read the full story 2 min read
The US Department of Homeland Security has ordered federal civilian agencies to remove all DeepSeek-related products from their information systems, according to Caixin and OSChina. OSChina said this includes third-party products and services built with DeepSeek technology, and listed the Treasury, State and Justice departments among the agencies in scope. [ 2 , 3 ]
cnBeta said the order targets federal civilian agencies' information systems and government procurement and is not a general ban for ordinary US users or all companies. Agencies cannot simply uninstall the DeepSeek app, it said, but must also check which models the software they buy relies on. The notice was made public on 19 October local time and was due to be formally published on 20 October, but the attached order carries an original date of 24 July, cnBeta reported. [ 1 , 3 ]
According to cnBeta, the concerns listed in the attachment centre on data and software security. The US side said DeepSeek's hosted services run on servers in China, so sensitive content entered by government employees or contractors could be sent out of the country. The attachment also said the model itself may contain malware or other security flaws and cited earlier security research on DeepSeek's iOS app. cnBeta noted that the document discloses no specific case of a federal agency suffering a data leak through DeepSeek. [ 1 ]
cnBeta reported that including third-party deployments drew questions. X user Zack Korman asked why DeepSeek hosted on US servers must also be disabled, and whether flaws in the mobile app are enough to judge the model itself unsafe. As background, cnBeta said Microsoft announced in January 2025 that it would bring DeepSeek R1 to Azure AI Foundry and GitHub, and that Amazon's cloud unit (AWS) also opened deployment of the models. AWS said at the time that in its Bedrock and SageMaker services, customer data is not shared with the model provider or used to train models. [ 1 ]
At the regular foreign ministry press conference on 20 October, spokesperson Mao Ning was asked by an AFP reporter about the instruction to US agencies to stop using DeepSeek's AI tools, which the US side said could pose multiple threats, including the transfer of sensitive data to China. Mao said China consistently opposes generalising the concept of national security and politicising technology and trade issues, and that China will firmly defend the lawful rights of Chinese companies. Yicai and Xinhua published the foreign ministry's position under the headline that China consistently opposes politicising technology and trade issues. [ 4 , 5 , 8 ]
Why it matters
The order reaches beyond DeepSeek's own app to third-party products and services built on its technology, so agencies must check what models their purchased software relies on. Beijing has responded that it will firmly defend the lawful rights of Chinese companies.
Key facts
- The US Department of Homeland Security ordered federal civilian agencies to stop using DeepSeek and related products. [ 2 , 3 ]
- The order covers third-party products and services built with DeepSeek technology, not only DeepSeek's own app. [ 1 , 3 ]
- It applies to federal civilian agencies' information systems and government procurement, not to ordinary US users or all companies. [ 1 , 3 ]
- The notice was made public on 19 October local time and was due to be formally published on 20 October; the attached order carries an original date of 24 July. [ 1 ]
- The US side cited the risk of data leaving the country because DeepSeek's hosted services run on servers in China, and said the model itself may contain malware or other security flaws. [ 1 ]
- Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China consistently opposes generalising the concept of national security and politicising technology and trade issues. [ 4 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Whether DeepSeek models hosted on US servers should be covered by the order. cnBeta reported that X user Zack Korman questioned why versions hosted on US servers are included; the order does not exclude products by who hosts them.
- Any specific case of a data leak at a federal agency caused by DeepSeek. cnBeta said the document discloses no such case.
- The date of the order. cnBeta reported the notice was made public on 19 October and due to be published on 20 October, while the attached order is dated 24 July; no other document addresses this.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- cnBeta published its report on the order and the questions about US-hosted versions. [ 1 ]
- Caixin published a headline on the Department of Homeland Security ban. [ 2 ]
- OSChina reported the order to remove DeepSeek-related products. [ 3 ]
- CLS reported Mao Ning's answer at the foreign ministry briefing. [ 4 ]
- Yicai published the foreign ministry's position. [ 5 ]
- Xinhua published the foreign ministry's position. [ 8 ]