Homeland Security orders civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek products

The Department of Homeland Security has ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek products from their systems and barred the Chinese AI company and its affiliates from agency procurements, in a notice published in the Federal Register on Tuesday.

Why it matters: The order reaches beyond DeepSeek itself to any third-party product or service built using DeepSeek technology, which puts the burden on every vendor selling AI tools to civilian agencies to know which models sit inside its products.

Data as of Federal Register document 2026-21447 (docket DHS-2026-0628), filed for public inspection October 19, 2026 and published October 20, 2026, read in full. The order's July 24, 2026 issuance date and the department's threat wording are as reported by CNBC from the order. Developing item.

The Department of Homeland Security published notice on Tuesday of an order excluding information technology products and services developed by Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd, including its affiliated entities, from federal civilian agency procurements, and requiring the removal of all DeepSeek and affiliate products from civilian agency information technology. The removal duty also covers third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek implementations, and the order rests on the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018, following a Federal Acquisition Security Council recommendation. CNBC reported the order was originally issued on July 24 and made public on Monday, with the department saying DeepSeek’s models present multiple threat vectors, including the risk that use by government employees or vendors could transfer sensitive data to China.

Homeland Security orders civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek products

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