DeepSeek Funding: Capital Flows Despite Washington's Restrictions
A massive capital infusion for the Chinese AI developer arrives just days after U.S. security orders.
By Petra Murphy ·
DeepSeek has reportedly secured approximately $15 billion, or about 100 billion yuan, in new funding. The significant capital raise was reported by Bloomberg and comes just two days after the U.S. directed federal civilian agencies to remove the company's AI technology from their systems due to security concerns.
The deal is described as one of the largest funding rounds in the country. According to the report, potential investors include Chinese battery maker CATL and Tencent, the parent company of WeChat. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This latest reported infusion follows a June round that brought in more than $7 billion at a valuation of $50 billion. In July, the company was also reportedly seeking an additional $1.5 billion at a valuation of around $71 billion. The company has plans for a potential IPO in China as early as next year.
The Hangzhou-based startup is increasing spending on AI infrastructure and open models for both domestic and international markets. This expansion is occurring even as it faces restrictions in the United States, and the company's growth could further intensify competition among its domestic rivals.
The reported funding round is part of a broader trend of investors pouring billions into AI companies globally, including those in China, to compete in the global AI race. For context, Chinese company Kimi developer Moonshot AI secured $2 billion at a $20 billion valuation in May. Manus AI raised more than $500 million earlier this month.
Chinese companies Zhipu AI (Z.ai) and MiniMax, which both went public in Hong Kong in January, have market capitalizations of roughly $29 billion and $7.2 billion, respectively, as of October 22, 2026. These figures indicate a high valuation for AI firms in the market.
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 AI startup gained global attention in early 2025 with its free-to-use, open-weight RI reasoning model, challenging the dominance of U.S. AI companies.
Liang retains an estimated 81.6% stake in its Chinese operating entity following its earlier funding round, according to corporate ownership data analyzed by WireScreen. Questions remain regarding the composition of the new investor group and how the capital will be allocated across its infrastructure and model development efforts.
