DeepSeek secures up to $7 bn funding, aims for $59 bn valuation

Chinese artificial‑intelligence startup DeepSeek is preparing the largest financing round in the country's tech sector, seeking to raise as much as $7 billion. Founder Liang Wenfeng will contribute roughly €2.5 billion (about $2.7 bn) and will remain the biggest shareholder. Other investors include Tencent with $1.5 bn, battery‑maker CATL with about $750 m, and additional talks with the state AI fund, gaming firm Netease and e‑commerce platform JD.com. The capital raise would value DeepSeek between $52 billion and $59 billion, putting it among the world’s most valuable AI companies.

The funding plan follows DeepSeek’s 2025 launch of the R1 model, which achieved performance comparable to Western rivals while using far fewer computing resources. The firm has since released the V4‑Pro model with aggressive pricing to pressure competitors. Compared with recent U.S. rounds—OpenAI’s $122 bn and Anthropic’s $65 bn—DeepSeek’s target valuation represents a strong challenge despite limited access to advanced American chip technology due to export bans.