China-Based DeepSeek’s AI Products Banned From Use By Government, Contractors

The U.S. government has banned of China's DeepSeek AI products from all government IT systems and civilian contracts over national security concerns.

The Department of Homeland Security issued the directive, saying DeepSeek and its related tools pose a security risk.

"DeepSeek's most widely used applications function through a prompt-and-response process that requires presenting information to the model, which may result in the transfer of sensitive data to the PRC (People's Republic of China) if used by government employees or vendors," a statement from Department of Homeland Security head Markwayne Mullin stated.

The order says DeepSeek must be removed from any U.S. government IT systems. It also applies to contractors and third-party organizations doing business with the U.S.

Mullin also pointed out that DeepSeek's account generation process collects personally identifiable information (PII) and may also track the digital fingerprint of users stated.

"The transfer of the aforementioned information to the PRC, either independently or in combination with publicly available data, could produce actionable intelligence on U.S. persons and/or government programs," Mullin wrote.

Mullin also stated that the AI tools themselves might contain malware, or at least security vulnerabilities. "Indeed, open-source security research has found that the DeepSeek iOS mobile application contains multiple critical vulnerabilities," he stated.

China defended DeepSeek and said that it would defend the rights of Chinese companies to do business.

"China has always opposed the overgeneralization of the concept of national security and the politicization of science, technology, and trade issues. We will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said.

This is only the latest conflict between the U.S. and China over technology.

According to ABC News, the U.S. restricts China's access to the most advanced AI chips. China has likewise imposed some restrictions related to AI as well.

In July, the Trump administration stated that China's robotics industry posed a "compelling national security" threat. "Foreign-produced advanced robotic devices could be weaponized to directly harm U.S. national security and U.S. persons," the FCC stated in announcing restrictions.