China defends DeepSeek after US ban of its AI from government systems - AP News

China hit back on Tuesday at a U.S. ban on products from Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek for federal civilian agencies, AP News reported. The ban appeared in a Department of Homeland Security notice that was made public on Monday. The notice said agencies should remove DeepSeek and its affiliated products from their IT systems. AP News reported the Chinese response as a defence of the company, and its headline characterised the U.S. action as a ban of DeepSeek's AI from government systems.

The notice set out a scope wider than DeepSeek's own offerings. According to the notice, agencies should also remove third party products and services developed using DeepSeek from their IT systems. That language extends the instruction to software built by other developers on DeepSeek's models, not only to products the company itself provides. The notice names federal civilian agencies as its audience. It was made public on Monday, and AP News reported China's response the following day, Tuesday.

AP News described DeepSeek as a Chinese artificial intelligence startup and framed the story around China's defence of the company after the U.S. ban. The report as published does not identify the Chinese official or agency that delivered the response. The sequence AP News reported was the Department of Homeland Security notice made public on Monday, followed by the Chinese response on Tuesday. The notice concerns the use of DeepSeek products in federal civilian agency IT systems rather than a broader commercial restriction described in the report.