US federal agencies have been prohibited from purchasing DeepSeek products
The United States government has banned the use of Chinese DeepSeek artificial intelligence technologies in government systems and introduced procurement restrictions due to national security threats. This was reported by Minfin citing Reuters, according to the portal PromPolitInform.
The United States Department of Homeland Security has issued a directive to remove Chinese software from the information networks of civilian federal agencies. In addition, government structures have been prohibited from purchasing any third-party services and products that operate on the basis of the specified algorithms.
Data Security Threats
The main reason for adopting such measures has been serious concerns regarding information protection. The agency emphasized that the use of these technologies could lead to the unauthorized leakage of confidential information to China. «The use of the product may lead to the transfer of sensitive data to the PRC,» the official statement notes.
Beyond the risks of official information leakage, American officials perceive Chinese developments as a threat to intelligence gathering on US citizens. Experts also do not rule out the presence of hidden vulnerabilities or malicious software code in the models capable of destabilizing the operation of government systems.
Previous State Restrictions
It is worth noting that similar bans on using this artificial intelligence on official devices were previously introduced by the US Department of Commerce and the country’s Navy. Comparable restrictive decisions were also made by the administrations of individual US states, notably New York, Tennessee, and Virginia.
The current steps by the federal government are part of a broader strategy by the incumbent administration against technology companies from the PRC. Specifically, an initiative to ban Chinese laboratories from testing electronic devices for the United States market is scheduled for review at the end of October.
Photo: Yuko Kodama
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