Why does the US also ban DeepSeek, even though it runs on US servers?

The United States has taken the toughest action yet against Chinese AI. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ordered all civilian federal agencies to remove products from their systems by DeepSeek and to stop buying them. The ban also applies to models on US servers—not just the Chinese app.

The order was signed by the minister back in July

The DHS issued an order Exclusion and Removal Order #2026-01 under the 2018 Federal Acquisition Security and Supply Chain Act (FASCSA). Minister Markwayne Mullin signed it on July 24, 2026, but the public only learned about it on October 19, and a day later it was published by the Federal Register. Details were reported by Gizmodo.

The order applies to civilian federal agencies—for example, the State Department—but not the Department of Defense and intelligence services, which have their own rules. Some branches had already restricted DeepSeek earlier; for example, the Navy and the Department of Commerce banned its models for employees, and a House committee labeled it a serious threat to national security.

Models hosted on US servers are also banned

Agencies must immediately stop purchasing DeepSeek products and those of its affiliated companies, and remove not only the app but also third-party products built on DeepSeek models from their systems. According to the portal cnBeta, they will have to verify which model the tools they bought are running on. The ban also covers versions of DeepSeek that Microsoft and Amazon offer in their clouds in the USA.

That’s what sparked criticism. X network user Zack Korman asks why even a model hosted on US servers should be considered dangerous, and doubts whether bugs in a mobile app are enough to declare the model itself dangerous. If an agency truly needs DeepSeek, it can request an exception in writing within 60 days. DHS has an order to review it within a year and then reassess it every year.

Why the US doesn’t trust DeepSeek

DHS cites as the reason that DeepSeek collects personal data during registration, and according to the department, it may be able to monitor users and create their digital fingerprint. Since its servers are in China, local laws allow the state access to the data. In addition, security research found several critical vulnerabilities in the iOS app, and according to the department, malware could even include the models themselves. However, the order does not mention a specific case of data leakage from federal agencies.

Nothing changes for ordinary Americans or private companies, since the order applies only to government agencies. In Europe, DeepSeek was handled mainly from the perspective of protecting personal data. In Italy, the Garante authority blocked the app as early as the end of January 2025, when it disappeared from Italian Apple and Google stores.

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