US Bans DeepSeek in Federal Agency IT Systems

The US Department of Homeland Security issued a mandatory order to exclude DeepSeek and all its products from the IT systems of federal civilian agencies, requiring the removal of deployed versions and prohibiting future purchases.

Compiled by Sergey KostenchukPublished 2026-10-20Updated 2026-10-20

2026-10-20 Safety OpenAI

🛡️ US Bans DeepSeek in Federal Agency IT Systems

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has excluded the Chinese company DeepSeek from the IT systems of US federal civilian agencies: deployed versions must be removed, future purchases are prohibited, and the rule covers third-party products built on DeepSeek models. The ban formally takes effect on June 26, 2026.

🌍 This is the first time the FASCSA law has been applied to a specific AI vendor, creating a precedent for excluding other Chinese AI companies, while supply chain audits are shifted to contractors.

👤 The ban does not affect DeepSeek's commercial API, self-hosting, or applications: it applies only to US agencies, but the formal exclusion may push corporate clients to abandon integrations even outside the government sector.

Source 1: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/19/deepseek-government-agencies-it-systems-01126126 Source 2: https://cyberscoop.com/dhs-bans-deepseek-federal-agencies/

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