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

DeepSeek is in talks to raise its first round of venture capital, and in just a few weeks, its potential valuation has soared from $20 billion to $45 billion, according to reports from the Financial Times and Bloomberg.

The dramatic valuation increase highlights how quickly the AI landscape is shifting, particularly as countries race to develop their own competitive alternatives to U.S.-dominated large language models. The funding round also signals China’s strategic push to build domestic AI capabilities that can compete globally while reducing dependence on American technology.

The Chinese AI lab gained international attention in early 2025 after launching a large language model that trained on a fraction of the compute power and at a fraction of the cost of major U.S. models like those from OpenAI and Anthropic. Since then, DeepSeek has maintained competitive performance with top global models in areas like reasoning and coding while keeping its technology open weight, with versions freely available on Hugging Face.

Founded by Chinese hedge fund billionaire Liang Wenfeng, who controls nearly 90% of the company, DeepSeek has not previously sought outside investors. However, the lab now faces pressure from competitors trying to poach its researchers. To retain talent, Liang decided to raise funds that would allow the company to offer employees equity stakes, sources told the Financial Times.

The funding round carries significant geopolitical implications for the global AI race. China’s state investment vehicle, the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, is reportedly leading the round. This backing represents part of China’s broader strategy to fund homegrown AI technology and sidestep restrictions on accessing U.S. technology, particularly advanced semiconductors.

DeepSeek’s approach to hardware optimization adds another strategic dimension to the investment. The company has designed its systems to run efficiently on chips made by China’s hardware giant Huawei Technologies. This combination of domestic AI software and hardware creates what analysts consider a powerful foundation for China to develop AI capabilities that can rival those of the United States.

Major Chinese cloud providers are also showing interest in the round:

• Tencent is reportedly in talks to participate
• Alibaba is also considering joining the funding round
• Both companies could provide additional cloud infrastructure and distribution capabilities

The timing of this funding round reflects broader tensions in the global tech industry. U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductors have pushed Chinese companies to develop alternative approaches to AI development. DeepSeek’s success in creating competitive models with fewer resources demonstrates that these restrictions may not be as limiting as initially expected.

For the global AI industry, DeepSeek’s rise represents a shift toward more efficient AI development. While U.S. companies have focused on scaling up compute power and training data, DeepSeek has shown that smarter optimization can achieve similar results with significantly lower costs. This approach could influence how other companies approach AI development going forward.

The company could not be immediately reached for comment on the funding discussions.