The Department of Homeland Security has ordered DeepSeek products removed from all federal civilian agencies and their IT systems, according to a notice published in the Federal Register.

DHS said DeepSeek use could result in the transfer of sensitive data belonging to US government employees and vendors to the Chinese government, and warned the company's models could contain malware or other security vulnerabilities.

Under the order, agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Communications Commission must stop using any DeepSeek products and remove existing ones. The notice also bars DeepSeek from participating in federal government contracts.

The restriction follows DeepSeek's release of its latest model, V4.1-Flash-1017, which the company described as smarter, faster and more efficient. It is not the company's first friction with the US government: last year, two members of Congress proposed a bill that would ban DeepSeek's AI chatbot from government devices.

Source: Engadget