China protests a US ban on Deepseek while blocking US AI at home

The US has ordered federal civilian agencies to remove Deepseek, a Chinese AI company's products, from their computer systems. China is protesting loudly and wants the ban lifted. The catch is that China already blocks ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini across its whole market. Still, Beijing's threat of a response is worth watching.

What changed

The US Department of Homeland Security told civilian federal agencies to remove all Deepseek products. The ban also covers software from other companies that is built on Deepseek's open-source models, meaning models whose underlying code is shared publicly so others can build on them. Agencies are also barred from buying Deepseek products in the future.

Washington says it fears Beijing could reach sensitive data through Deepseek. China's Foreign Ministry says the US is stretching the idea of national security too far. The Commerce Ministry wants the ban lifted and has promised resolute countermeasures.

Why China's complaint is shaky

China walls off foreign AI far more strictly. ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are not approved there. Since 2023, the Cyberspace Administration has had to review AI services, and those services must follow political guidelines. That applies to the entire market, not just government offices.

• State bodies and state-owned companies are supposed to gradually replace foreign hardware and software.
• Reports point to iPhone restrictions for government officials.
• The NYT reports Beijing proposed its own export and licensing controls for AI last week, similar to the US approach.

Why the US worry has a basis

China's 2017 National Intelligence Law requires companies and citizens to support the country's intelligence services. Chinese models also tend to avoid certain topics and repeat state propaganda less critically than Western ones. US AI companies, the FBI and other agencies have also accused Chinese firms of copying top US models on a large scale. Beijing denies this.

What happens next

The protest serves several purposes. It shows Chinese companies the state backs them. It supports the story, with other countries, that the US wants to monopolize AI. It also sets up later retaliation that Beijing can describe as simply a response. What form that could take has not been spelled out.

Both sides cite national security to protect their markets and technology. The US also links security and economic policy through strict chip export controls. Anyone who uses Deepseek, or a tool built on it, should expect more rule changes and more tension between US and Chinese tech.