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DeepSeek raises about $15 billion, with CATL and Tencent among major investors
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China's DeepSeek has raised about 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) in its latest funding round, one of China's largest, as the Hangzhou-based startup aims to compete with global giants like Anthropic and OpenAI. DeepSeek raised its target at least twice during negotiations, from 50 billion yuan to 80 billion yuan and finally to this amount. People familiar with the matter said battery pioneer CATL and WeChat operator Tencent Holdings are major investors in the round. The financing paves the way for one of China's most anticipated market debuts. DeepSeek, which triggered a $1 trillion global market shock in 2025 by showing competitive strength at far lower cost than Silicon Valley models, previously lacked the financial resources of US frontier labs. The latest funding shows the gap is starting to narrow, though its financial firepower remains far below Anthropic and OpenAI, which have each raised over $100 billion. Like rival Moonshot AI, DeepSeek is preparing for an IPO, which would be a significant milestone for the Chinese market.
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Source: Bloomberg
Record Funding Round
Chinese AI pioneer DeepSeek has raised approximately 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) in its latest funding round — one of the largest in China — signaling the startup's ambition to compete with global giants such as Anthropic and OpenAI.
The Hangzhou-based company raised its funding target at least twice during negotiations, escalating from 50 billion yuan to 80 billion yuan before ultimately reaching the final amount. According to people familiar with the matter, battery pioneer CATL and WeChat operator Tencent Holdings are the lead investors in this round.
Closing the Gap with US Rivals
The funding paves the way for one of the most anticipated Chinese market debuts in recent years. The AI upstart sent a $1 trillion shockwave through global markets in 2025 by demonstrating competitive capabilities at a fraction of the cost of Silicon Valley models, but had previously lacked the financial resources of US frontier labs. The latest funding suggests this gap is beginning to narrow, though DeepSeek's financial firepower still falls far short of Anthropic and OpenAI, each of which has raised over $100 billion.
Like its competitor Moonshot AI, DeepSeek is preparing for an IPO, which would mark a significant milestone for the Chinese market.
Expanding Investment and Open-Source Push
DeepSeek has begun ramping up investment in AI data centers and developing more open-source models for domestic and international use. The company regularly releases high-performance, low-cost models that pressure domestic competitors and attract customers overseas, including in the United States. For example, the V4.1 Flash released in September caused shares of local competitors MiniMax and Z.AI to decline.
DeepSeek, Tencent, and CATL representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
The "DeepSeek Death Zone"
More broadly, companies from Alibaba to ByteDance have rolled out low-cost AI services, often open-sourced for customers to modify. Benchmark charts from Artificial Analysis depict what has been dubbed the "DeepSeek death zone" — a landscape in which competitors unable to surpass DeepSeek's performance or undercut its pricing will struggle to survive.
Originally published by Bloomberg: DeepSeek Raises $15 Billion in Challenge to Leading US Labs
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bloombergWestern
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DeepSeek Raises About $15 Billion in Record China AI Funding Round