US DeepSeek Ban Bars Chinese AI From Civilian Agencies
The US DeepSeek ban orders civilian federal agencies to remove all AI technology from the Chinese firm DeepSeek, BBC reported. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made the order public on Monday, October 19, 2026, though it took effect at the end of July. It also covers any technology built with the help of DeepSeek’s models. The notice did not explain the exact security concerns.
- Who is covered? The order applies to civilian agencies, including the Treasury, State and Justice departments. Agencies within the Department of Defense are excluded.
- Why now? The White House has criticised Chinese AI firms this year. Technology adviser Michael Kratsios wrote in an internal memo that “malicious exploitation” of American AI firms had been happening, mainly by Chinese rivals. Anthropic and OpenAI, both expected to list on the stock market in the coming months, say some Chinese firms, including DeepSeek, effectively copied their models.
- Why DeepSeek matters. Its open-source models are free to access and cheaper to run than closed rivals such as Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude or OpenAI’s Codex. Since its 2025 release, demand has at times knocked its servers offline. Its free chatbot app ranks among the most downloaded in Apple’s App Store. Snowflake, Vercel and OpenRouter all use its models in their products.
- Responses. BBC said it had contacted DHS, DeepSeek and the Chinese embassy in Washington for comment. No replies were reported.
This is not the first US restriction on DeepSeek. In 2025, NASA banned access in January, and the Commerce Department blocked it on government devices. Australia’s government banned it from its systems in February 2025. What is new is the reach. The order covers technology built with DeepSeek’s help, not only the app, and it comes from DHS for the whole civilian side of government. The ban also leaves a gap. American companies can keep using the model, so Chinese AI is restricted in government but not in the commercial market.
Watch for a response from DHS, DeepSeek or Beijing, and for whether defence agencies adopt similar rules. It is also unclear how agencies will check which of their tools were built with DeepSeek’s help. The US DeepSeek ban may become a test case for how far Washington will go on Chinese AI.
