DeepSeek could hit $45B valuation from its first investment round

DeepSeek, the Chinese AI lab that burst onto the scene in early 2025 with a large language model trained at a fraction of the cost and compute power of U.S. rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic, is now negotiating its first-ever venture capital round. According to the Financial Times and Bloomberg, the company’s valuation has skyrocketed from $20 billion to $45 billion in just a few weeks. The lab was founded by hedge fund billionaire Liang Wenfeng, who retains nearly 90% ownership. Unlike typical startups, DeepSeek has not previously sought external investment. However, with competitors poaching its researchers, Liang has opted to raise funds to provide equity to employees and retain talent.

The funding round is reportedly led by the state-owned China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, a key vehicle for Beijing’s push to build domestic AI infrastructure. Cloud giants Tencent and Alibaba are also in talks to participate. DeepSeek’s models are open-weight and have been optimized to run on Huawei Technologies’ chips, offering China an alternative to U.S. hardware. This combination—cost-effective AI models plus domestic chips—positions DeepSeek as a central pillar in China’s strategy to compete with the United States on AI, especially given export restrictions on advanced semiconductors. If completed, the $45 billion valuation would dwarf many Western AI startups and signal deep state backing for China's homegrown AI ecosystem.