DeepSeek reportedly raises $15B days after US restrictions

Bloomberg reported that Chinese AI lab DeepSeek raised approximately $15 billion (about 100 billion yuan), one of China's biggest funding rounds, just two days after the US ordered federal agencies to remove its AI technology over security concerns. Potential investors reportedly include Chinese battery maker CATL and Tencent, the company behind WeChat. This follows DeepSeek's June round, when it raised over $7 billion at a $50 billion valuation, and a reported July effort to raise an additional $1.5 billion at a roughly $71 billion valuation, with plans for a potential Chinese IPO as early as next year. The Hangzhou-based startup is increasing spending on AI infrastructure and open models for domestic and international markets despite US restrictions, a move that could intensify competition among domestic rivals. The round reflects continued heavy investor spending on AI companies globally, including in China, to compete in the global AI race. Chinese companies Moonshot AI secured $2 billion at a $20 billion valuation in May, Manus AI raised over $500 million earlier this month, and Zhipu AI (Z.ai) and MiniMax, which went public in Hong Kong in January, have market capitalizations of roughly $29 billion and $7.2 billion, respectively, as of today. DeepSeek was founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, who previously co-founded Chinese quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer, which helped finance DeepSeek's early development. The startup gained global attention in early 2025 with its free-to-use, open-weight reasoning model, challenging the dominance of US AI companies. Liang still retains an estimated 81.6% stake in its Chinese operating entity following its earlier funding round. DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a TechCrunch request for comment.

(Source：TechCrunch)