DeepSeek reportedly raises US$15 billion as it weighs public listing
Tencent and battery maker CATL were among the largest investors, Bloomberg reported. DeepSeek has not confirmed the financing.
Investors have provided Chinese artificial intelligence lab DeepSeek with about 100 billion yuan (US$15 billion), according to Bloomberg, which cited people with knowledge of the deal. The report identified Tencent and CATL as major participants.
The financing remains unconfirmed by DeepSeek, and TNW said it could not independently verify Bloomberg’s reporting. Bloomberg said investor interest prompted the company to increase its initial target of 50 billion yuan to 80 billion yuan before the final amount reached about 100 billion yuan.
This is DeepSeek’s second round of outside investment this year. A June fundraising brought in more than US$7 billion; the following month, it sought further investment at a valuation near US$71 billion. Bloomberg has also reported preparations for a potential stock market listing.
Based in Hangzhou, DeepSeek has increased expenditure on data centers and open-source models. Liang Wenfeng established the lab in 2023 and also co-founded High-Flyer, the Chinese hedge fund that financed much of its initial work.
The fundraising concluded two days after the US Department of Homeland Security instructed federal agencies to cease purchasing DeepSeek products and remove them from agency systems. The department cited national security risks, including potential access to US government data by Chinese authorities.
