China on Tuesday condemned a U.S. Order barring federal civilian agencies from buying DeepSeek products and requiring them to remove the Chinese startup’s technology from government IT systems.
The Department of Homeland Security’s order, issued in late July and made public Monday, cites national-security concerns. It says DeepSeek’s models present multiple potential threats and warns that servers located in China could allow Chinese authorities to access company infrastructure and sensitive U.S. The order extends earlier limits on DeepSeek in intelligence-related national-security systems to civilian agencies and existing systems.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing opposes expanding the national-security rationale and politicizing technology and trade issues. China’s Commerce Ministry expressed strong dissatisfaction, saying Washington had harmed Chinese companies and disregarded understandings reached by President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump; it said China would monitor the situation and take measures to protect its interests. DeepSeek had not publicly responded.
The dispute comes as Washington and Beijing compete over artificial intelligence while maintaining limited cooperation on AI governance. The United States continues to restrict China’s access to some advanced AI chips and manufacturing equipment, while U.S. Officials have accused DeepSeek and other Chinese companies of extracting capabilities from American AI systems through large-scale model distillation, allegations Beijing has rejected. China has also proposed export restrictions on certain advanced AI models, and AI is expected to feature in a planned mid-November meeting between Xi and Trump.