DHS orders DeepSeek out of US federal systems: schools and employers should ask what their AI tools run on

The US Department of Homeland Security filed an order on 19 October 2026, due for publication in the Federal Register on 20 October, directing civilian federal agencies to exclude DeepSeek products from procurement and to remove them from their information technology. It covers products and services from Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd and its affiliates, and it also reaches third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek implementations. The order is made under the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018, following a review by the Federal Acquisition Security Council. The docket is DHS-2026-0628.

CyberScoop, which reported the order on 19 October, says it cites threats including data stored on servers in China and the transfer of sensitive data from prompts and responses. The order applies to US civilian federal agencies, not to schools, businesses or the public.

The part with the widest reach is the phrase "developed using". Many AI tools that teachers, staff and pupils use are built on a model made by someone else, and the person using the tool often cannot see which one. An order that follows a model into the products built on it shows how quickly that question moves from the technical team to the procurement desk.

Dan Fitzpatrick's analysis is that the story is less about one supplier than about visibility. Many schools and employers adopted AI tools one at a time, often at the request of a keen teacher or team, without a record of what each runs on, where the data goes or who can switch it off. That is the paralysis problem in a different form: people are using the tools, and the checking has not caught up. It is also an equity issue, because large organisations have a procurement team to ask these questions and small schools usually do not.

For school and college leaders, the practical step is a one-page register of every AI tool in use, covering the underlying model, where data is stored and who is responsible for it. Ask each supplier those three questions in writing. For business leaders, add the same questions to contracts and renewals. For parents, ask the school which tools your child uses and what happens to what they type into them.

Dan Fitzpatrick advises schools and education bodies on AI, and his work centres on AI literacy, how organisations adopt AI with a plan, and what the technology means for children, teachers and the workforce they are heading into.

Dan Fitzpatrick is available for interview and comment on this story. Available today for live or pre-recorded radio, TV, podcast and print interviews, with a broadcast-quality remote setup for live or pre-recorded down-the-line interviews. Contact: dan@theaieducator.io