US orders federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek, including third-party tools built on it

The US Department of Homeland Security has ordered all federal civilian agencies to stop buying DeepSeek products and to remove them from their IT systems, according to Reuters (headline) and the news site MadRobot. Both reports were shared on Hacker News on October 19. DeepSeek had not commented, per those reports.

According to MadRobot's account of the order, which it says is Exclusion and Removal Order #2026-01:

• It was signed by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, dated July 24, 2026, and kept out of public view until this week. Notice is due in the Federal Register on October 20 (docket DHS-2026-0628). It is issued under a 2018 supply-chain law.
• Agencies must exclude Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence and its affiliates from purchasing, and remove its products "and third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek implementations" from their systems immediately. The order does not say which products that covers or how to treat DeepSeek models run on US companies' servers.
• It does not cover national security systems or the Pentagon and intelligence agencies.
• Agencies can request an exception in writing within 60 days, reviewed by CISA. Until removal they are told to monitor traffic and step up logging.
• DHS's stated reasons: DeepSeek's servers are in China, where law permits government access to private company infrastructure, and its sign-up and apps collect data. The order cites public material, including a February 2025 NowSecure audit of the iPhone app, and describes no case of government data reaching DeepSeek.

MadRobot notes that some US agencies and states already blocked DeepSeek on their own devices; this order is broader.