The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has banned Chinese AI startup DeepSeek's products from federal civilian agencies, citing national security concerns. This order mandates the removal of DeepSeek products and any third-party services developed using them from agency IT systems. The department also prohibits future procurement of DeepSeek's offerings. DeepSeek, a prominent Chinese AI company, makes its open-source models widely available, often for free, including in the United States. U.S. officials allege that DeepSeek's models pose multiple threat vectors, including potential access by Chinese authorities to sensitive U.S. data due to servers being located in China. In response, China has vowed to defend the rights of its companies and opposes the politicization of technology. This ban occurs amidst heightened U.S.-China tensions in the AI technology race, with leaders expected to discuss AI at an upcoming meeting. While some AI governance collaboration exists, significant disagreements persist, including U.S. restrictions on advanced AI chip access for China. Beijing has also proposed export restrictions on certain AI models and dismissed U.S. claims of AI capability extraction. Previously, the U.S. also moved to bar imports of foreign-made humanoid robots, seen as targeting China.