DHS orders federal civilian agencies to purge DeepSeek tech

On October 19, 2026, Bloomberg Technology reported that the Trump administration had barred civilian US government agencies from using products or services from Chinese AI company DeepSeek. The report noted that DeepSeek's cheaper open-weight models were posing a growing challenge to Silicon Valley developers, and described the move as a direct restriction on the Chinese model maker by the US government.

Later the same day, Techmeme, citing a Wall Street Journal report, said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had ordered all federal civilian agencies to remove AI technology developed by DeepSeek from their IT systems and to prohibit future procurement of its products and services. The ban covered both existing deployments and future purchases.

That evening, The Next Web reported that the order was issued under a 2018 supply chain security law and also applied to third-party tools built on DeepSeek's models. It cited the risk that sensitive data handed to DeepSeek could be obtained by the Chinese government. Taken together, the three reports follow one another in sequence, and the public record currently stops at the DHS order to remove the technology and halt procurement; the material does not mention a deadline for compliance or any subsequent steps.