DeepSeek burst into global view in early 2025 with AI models that challenged prominent American offerings. But its rapid rise also drew alarm in Washington, where officials focused on the prospect that government workers could feed sensitive material into systems tied to a Chinese company.¹

The concerns accumulated over the following months. In February, cybersecurity firm NowSecure reported flaws in DeepSeek’s iPhone app, including unencrypted transmissions and insecurely stored sensitive data. A House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party investigation in April separately accused the company of sending U.S. user data to China and tailoring some responses to Beijing’s censorship demands.¹

On July 24, the Department of Homeland Security signed an order requiring civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek-related technology; it was made public on Oct. 19. DHS warned that DeepSeek servers are based in China, where authorities have broad powers to demand company information. Material submitted by federal employees or contractors, it said, could be transferred to China and used to collect intelligence on U.S. personnel and operations.¹

The crackdown became formal on Oct. 16, when the secretaries of homeland security and war, alongside the director of national intelligence, issued restrictions under a 2018 supply-chain security law. The federal contracting database lists DeepSeek under an active exclusion with no scheduled end date.¹

The central point is breadth. Agencies are not merely barred from installing or running DeepSeek apps: they must identify and remove existing installations, and cannot procure software or award contracts whose performance involves them. “These FASCSA orders prohibit the installation, accessing, or running of a Deepseek application,” a CISA spokesperson said.¹

DHS’s order also reaches third-party services integrating DeepSeek models—a move Reuters summarized as a ban on civilian agencies using technology that could transfer “sensitive data to the PRC.”²