The U.S. government on Monday (October 19) ordered federal agencies to stop using the Chinese artificial intelligence tool DeepSeek.
The notice from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that it is prohibited to use products developed by Deep Search, as well as third-party tools created by Deep Search. The notice stated that related tools must be removed from IT equipment.
"Deep Search models are subject to multiple threat vectors," Monday's advisory reads.
The Department of Homeland Security warned that the use of deep-seeking AI tools "could result in the transfer (to China) of sensitive data if used by U.S. government employees or vendors."
The advisory said the servers for Deep Search were located in China, a country where the government has "broad authority" to access private company infrastructure under the country's legal system.
The United States has accused top Chinese artificial intelligence companies such as Deep Search for systematically stealing advanced model capabilities developed by American companies.
Although China and the United States are facing fierce competition in the field of AI, in September, the two countries still reached an agreement to establish a dialogue mechanism in the field of artificial intelligence.
The issue is also expected to appear on the agenda for next month’s meeting between U.S. and Chinese leaders. In mid-November, US President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet during the APEC Summit in Shenzhen.
“A huge amount of personal data is stored in China”
When asked about the matter on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: "China has always opposed the generalization of the concept of national security and the politicization of science, technology, economic and trade issues. We will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises."
Reuters wrote that in accordance with Deepin’s own privacy policy, a large amount of personal data is stored in China, including requests made to its AI programs and uploaded documents. In addition to the United States, there are also some countries that prohibit deep search due to security concerns.
Such as Australia. In February last year, Australia banned Deep Search on all government equipment due to concerns it posed a security risk. The Czech Republic last July banned the country's public administration from using any of Deep Search's services due to concerns about data security. Taiwan banned government departments from using in-depth search services in February last year because it considered them a security risk. In addition, Taiwan has expressed concerns about the censorship of in-depth searches and the flow of data to China. There are also countries that are reviewing the safety of Deep Quest.
