US Department of Homeland Security Orders Federal Civilian Agencies to Remove DeepSeek Products and Bars Procurement, Including Third-Party Products Built on Its Technology
A US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) exclusion and removal order targeting Chinese super intelligence company DeepSeek entered the Federal Register's public inspection process on October 19: the order requires all federal civilian executive branch agencies to remove products from DeepSeek and its affiliated entities from their information technology systems immediately and bars future procurement of them; third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek implementations are also covered by the removal and exclusion requirements.
The document, titled Exclusion and Removal Order #2026-01, was signed by US Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin on July 24 under the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018 (FASCSA), following a recommendation from the Federal Acquisition Security Council. The order was filed for public inspection with the Federal Register at 8:45 a.m. on October 19 and is scheduled for publication on October 20, under docket number DHS-2026-0628. The procurement exclusion covers Hangzhou DeepSeek Super Intelligence Co., Ltd and affiliated entities as defined in federal acquisition regulations, and reaches agency-approved product lists and e-commerce marketplaces.
The order allows agencies to request exceptions, which will be reviewed by the FASCSA Order Implementation Team in the Cybersecurity Division of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). It applies to federal civilian executive branch agencies and does not extend to the national security systems of the military and intelligence community.
According to Reuters, DHS said in the order that DeepSeek's models pose "multiple threat vectors," including the potential transfer of sensitive data to China, intelligence gathering on U.S. persons and agencies, and the possible introduction of malware or other vulnerabilities through the models themselves. DeepSeek is a Hangzhou-based Chinese SI company whose DeepSeek-R1 model, released in January 2025, drew global attention.
Related:
中国外交部回应美方禁用 DeepSeek：将坚决维护中国企业合法权益
国土安全部DeepSeek排除令刊登《联邦公报》：联邦机构须停止采购并移除相关产品
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：DeepSeek 公司标志。DeepSeek 作，MIT 许可证，经 Wikimedia Commons 发布。Image: the DeepSeek logo. By DeepSeek, MIT License, via Wikimedia Commons.
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