DHS orders DeepSeek products, and third-party products built on them, out of federal civilian agencies

The Department of Homeland Security published notice in the Federal Register on October 20 of an order from the Secretary of Homeland Security that does two things. It excludes "information technology products and services developed by Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd (DeepSeek), to include affiliated entities," from federal civilian agency procurements. And it requires the "removal of all DeepSeek and DeepSeek-affiliate products, and third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek implementations, from civilian agency information technology."

The authority and the open question

The order was issued under the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018, after review of a recommendation from the Federal Acquisition Security Council. It applies to federal civilian executive branch agencies; the notice says nothing about private companies or state governments. The Register reports that it is unclear what "developed using" covers: ongoing API access to DeepSeek models, or any product built with their help. It also points out that AI gateways that route requests across many models can send traffic to DeepSeek without the user choosing it.

Why it matters

Even outside government, this is the clearest sign yet that the model behind a tool can decide whether you are allowed to buy it. If you sell to federal agencies, or might, you need to know which models your own products and your vendors' products call. Start an inventory now: each AI tool, the model or models it uses, and whether that can be pinned.