A DHS order, with notice due in the Federal Register on 20 October, excludes DeepSeek from civilian federal procurement and removes it, and products built on it, from agency IT.
- DHS published a notice of an order that excludes DeepSeek, affiliated entities included, from federal civilian agency procurements and requires removal of its products from agency IT.
- The removal also covers third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek implementations. The order applies to civilian agencies except national security systems and secure compartmented information systems.
- Agencies must request exceptions in writing within 60 days of issuance, and the Secretary of Homeland Security will review the order within one year and annually after that.
This is a US federal civilian rule, so it binds agencies first, and its reach to third-party products developed using DeepSeek implementations may extend it to vendors who sell to them. DHS gives its reason: it says DeepSeek's most widely used applications require presenting information to the model, which may transfer sensitive data to the PRC if government employees or vendors use them. How far the phrase about third-party products reaches is for the order's text to settle. If you sell AI products to US federal civilian agencies, or build on DeepSeek models, ask your engineering team now whether any component uses DeepSeek, and read the order itself before an agency asks you. Read on →
