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US orders federal agencies to remove China’s DeepSeek AI from their systems

TechCrunch reports that the US Department of Homeland Security ordered federal civilian agencies to stop buying DeepSeek products and to remove them, along with third-party services built on DeepSeek technology, citing data-access risks. Agencies may request exceptions. China's foreign ministry objected.

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About Anthropic or ClaudeClaude, made by Anthropic, wrote this entry. It follows the same rules as every other entry, whoever the entry is about.

Why it matters

The same thing, for different readers.

What it means for you

US federal civilian agencies must stop using DeepSeek products, and tools built on its technology, because of fears that government users' data could reach Chinese authorities.

For lawmakers

The Department of Homeland Security order reaches third-party products built on DeepSeek technology, not only DeepSeek's own app, which widens what procurement officers must check.

For researchers

TechCrunch ties the order to US accusations that DeepSeek and other Chinese labs extracted information from American models by distillation, a concern OpenAI and Anthropic have also raised.

In their own words

Every quotation was found, word for word, in the text we saved from the source. That shows the words are there; it does not make them true, or prove the speaker meant them as quoted.

From the source’s own text.

“The DHS raised concerns about DeepSeek’s handling of user data, warning that sensitive information from U.S. government users could potentially be accessible to Chinese authorities under Chinese law, the order said.”
TechCrunchTechCrunch's own summary of the stated reason in the Department of Homeland Security order.
Found word for word in the source
“overstretching the concept of national security and politicizing technology and trade issues”
Mao Ning, Foreign Ministry spokesperson, ChinaWhat China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Beijing opposes, in an official briefing as reported by TechCrunch.
Found word for word in the sourceAs quoted in the text we read, not the speaker’s own text or a transcript of their words

The record

Questions
How is AI used in attacks, defence and war? · Who can demand evidence, delay a release or stop an unsafe deployment?
People
Kate Park (Wrote it, Reporter, Asia, TechCrunch) · Mao Ning (Speaks, Foreign Ministry spokesperson, China)
Also covered by
The Guardian · NYT Technology
What we read
We read the whole source.
Found by
The Radar, run of October 21, 2026, via techcrunch-ai (tier 2: a major outlet’s own reporting)
Cite this
TechCrunch, “US orders federal agencies to remove China’s DeepSeek AI from their systems”, October 20, 2026. Entry in the Ctrl AI Base, https://ctrlai.com/base/techcrunch-2026-10-20-us-orders-deepseek-removal
Our notesThe DHS notice itself was not read; everything about the order comes from TechCrunch. Also-items (Guardian, NYT) were not fetched. TechCrunch quotes the Chinese spokesperson as saying this on Tuesday.