US bans DeepSeek AI use across federal civilian agencies
Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 19 Oct, 19:31 · Archive
The Department of Homeland Security has banned all use of Chinese AI firm DeepSeek across federal civilian agencies.
The US Department of Homeland Security has ordered the removal of DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence company, from all federal civilian agencies and their IT systems. The notice published with the Federal Register characterised the risks as potentially resulting in the 'transfer of sensitive data' of US government employees and vendors to the Chinese government. DHS said DeepSeek's models could 'contain malware or other security vulnerabilities' and disallowed the company from participating in any federal government contracts.
DeepSeek is a powerful and relatively inexpensive artificial intelligence model that operates on an open-source basis, making it accessible and cheaper to use than rivals. The BBC reports that the ban applies to civilian agencies including the Department of the Treasury, the Department of State and the Department of Justice, but excludes the Department of Defense. The order took effect at the end of July, though the DHS made it public on Monday.
The move reflects broader US concerns about Chinese AI development. Engadget reports that DeepSeek released its latest model, V4.1-Flash-1017, a couple of days before the ban was announced. The BBC notes that the Trump administration and American AI firms including Anthropic and OpenAI have criticised Chinese AI companies, with some claiming their models have been copied by Chinese firms including DeepSeek.
How it is being reported
- US bans DeepSeek AI from government use as tech tension with China continuesDeepSeek is a powerful, popular and relatively inexpensive artificial intelligence model out of China.BBC Technology · 19 Oct, 19:21
- Homeland Security bans DeepSeek use in federal civilian agenciesThe decision comes a couple of days after the release of Deepseek's latest AI model.Engadget · 19 Oct, 17:59
In this story: Department of Homeland Security · DeepSeek · United States · China · Department of Defense · OpenAI · Anthropic
This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem
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