On October 19, the Trump administration ordered federal agencies to remove artificial intelligence (AI) models developed by the Chinese company DeepMind.
According to a report by Yonhap News on October 20, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published this directive on the federal register website, as reported by Bloomberg and Reuters.
Under this order, based on cybersecurity laws, federal agencies must eliminate DeepMind products from their IT systems, and their use is completely prohibited. The DHS also banned the introduction of third-party services based on DeepMind's AI models and blocked the company's participation in federal contracts.
The DHS warned that DeepMind could pose multiple security threat pathways, stating that if U.S. government employees or contractors use these products, there is a risk that sensitive data could be transferred to China.
Additionally, the department noted that the use of DeepMind by government agencies could produce actionable information about U.S. citizens and those agencies, raising concerns about potential malware or other security vulnerabilities.
The DHS instructed federal agencies to monitor government website traffic to address the potential risks posed by DeepMind. Several federal agencies, including the Department of Commerce and the Navy, have already prohibited the use of DeepMind on government devices.
In response, the Chinese government expressed immediate opposition. Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, stated on October 20 that China consistently opposes the excessive expansion of national security concepts and the politicization of scientific, technological, economic, and trade issues. She added, "We will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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