From Rome to Washington, why governments are pulling DeepSeek off official systems

The US has joined governments across Europe and Asia in restricting DeepSeek, ordering civilian federal agencies to remove the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company’s products from their IT systems over data security concerns.

The action follows government bans and scrutiny by privacy regulators since early 2025. Many measures apply to official devices and networks, while others target the collection of personal information and its transfer to China.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made its order public on October 19. Issued on July 24 by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin under the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018, it also bars civilian federal agencies from buying DeepSeek products and services, including those from its affiliates.


The order extends to third-party products and services built using DeepSeek’s models. National security systems and certain classified intelligence systems fall outside its scope.

DHS said DeepSeek’s servers were in China, where the legal system gives government cyber and intelligence agencies broad powers to access private companies’ infrastructure. It warned that information transferred to China, either on its own or combined with publicly available data, could “produce actionable intelligence on US persons and/or government programs”.

Italy acted on January 30, 2025, when its privacy watchdog, the Garante, ordered an immediate restriction on the processing of Italian users’ personal data. The regulator said DeepSeek had failed to clarify key aspects of its data practices and had argued that European Union data protection rules did not apply to it.

Taiwan’s digital ministry barred government agencies from using DeepSeek at the end of January 2025, citing risks of cross-border data transfers and information leaks. The restrictions also covered public schools, state-owned enterprises and critical infrastructure.

Australia followed on February 4, 2025, directing government entities to prevent the use or installation of DeepSeek and remove existing versions from their systems and devices. Home affairs minister Tony Burke said the ban was “to protect Australia’s national security and national interest”.

In South Korea, the trade ministry and other government departments blocked access in February 2025 over concerns about the collection of user data. DeepSeek also temporarily suspended new app downloads while addressing the privacy watchdog’s concerns. Downloads resumed on April 28, 2025, after the company revised its privacy policy.

In Germany, Berlin’s data protection commissioner, Meike Kamp, asked Apple and Google in June 2025 to consider removing DeepSeek from their German app stores over data transfers to China.

“The transfer of user data by DeepSeek to China is unlawful,” Kamp said in a statement.

The Czech government banned DeepSeek products across its state administration in July 2025 on the recommendation of its cybersecurity agency. Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Chinese law required the company to cooperate with state authorities, potentially allowing them access to data stored in China.

Belgium, which had imposed a temporary restriction in February 2025, confirmed its ban through a November circular issued by government modernisation minister Vanessa Matz. It prohibited DeepSeek’s installation and use on federal work devices and set December 1 as the deadline for removal, according to the federal public service BOSA.

DeepSeek turns to Huawei’s chips

In a separate development, DeepSeek is working more closely with Huawei, helping shape the design of its future Ascend AI chips, The Information reported on Monday.

DeepSeek also plans to begin training its models on Huawei’s Ascend 950DT chip as early as the end of 2026, according to the report. If it goes ahead, this would mark the first time a leading Chinese AI model is trained on Chinese chips rather than Nvidia’s.

Huawei has also faced restrictions from Washington. The US placed the company on a trade blacklist in 2019, while federal agencies have been barred from buying its telecom equipment over concerns that the Chinese government could use it for spying.