DeepSeek AI Lab Valued at $60 B as Founder Rejects Overtime Culture

DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial‑intelligence startup founded in July 2023 in Hangzhou, has reached a valuation of roughly $60 billion. Founder Liang Wenfeng said the company achieved this scale without imposing key‑performance indicators, overtime, or a performance‑theatre culture, noting that “we generally don’t work overtime.”

The firm amassed about 173 million downloads after its public launch in January 2025 and employs around 160 staff, far fewer than rivals such as OpenAI. A recent funding round raised more than $7.4 billion, drawing external and state‑linked investors and shifting from founder‑only financing via his hedge fund High‑Flyer.

Liang also disclosed that DeepSeek seeks to acquire Nvidia GPUs, describing them as “the best use of capital,” despite U.S. export restrictions that push Chinese firms toward Huawei hardware. The comments prompted a temporary pause in the fundraising round. The company’s lean approach and open‑source development challenge the assumption that competitive AI requires massive compute spending and large teams.