- DeepSeek is seeking $3 billion to $4 billion in its first external funding round, targeting a valuation of up to $50 billion.
- China’s state-backed national AI fund is in talks to lead the investment, alongside potential participation from Tencent and Hillhouse.
- The raise marks a strategic shift for the previously self-funded AI lab, which needs substantial capital to expand its computing infrastructure and compete with heavily backed rivals such as Alibaba, ByteDance, and Moonshot AI.
DeepSeek, a Chinese AI lab, is seeking its first outside funding round at a valuation that could reach $50 billion, after years of avoiding external capital, reports Reuters.
Reuters, citing three sources familiar with the matter, reported that the Hangzhou-based startup is targeting $3 billion to $4 billion in its maiden round, with proceeds earmarked for expanding its computing infrastructure and improving employee compensation.
According to the report, DeepSeek could raise between $3 billion and $4 billion, with the money expected to go toward expanding computing capacity and improving employee benefits.
China’s state-backed national AI fund is in talks to lead the round, according to multiple reports. Tencent has also held discussions about participating.
Founded and largely financed by Liang Wenfeng through his hedge fund High-Flyer, DeepSeek has long stood apart from many Chinese AI startups by operating more like a research lab than a venture-backed company. That approach helped it build a strong technical reputation, but it has also left the company more exposed in a market where rivals are spending heavily on talent and computing power.
DeepSeek last month introduced its V4 model and said it had “redefined the state-of-the-art” among open-source systems. Rivals including ByteDance, Alibaba, MiniMax and Moonshot AI have raised billions and are spending aggressively on talent and compute. DeepSeek’s latest release, V4-Pro, launched in late April and delivers benchmark performance close to that of GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 4.7 at a significantly lower API cost.
Unlike the company’s earlier releases, V4 did not trigger the same global reaction in tech markets, suggesting competitors have already caught up in several areas.
The fundraising suggests that DeepSeek’s leadership has concluded that its self-funded model, while philosophically distinctive, is no longer sufficient to remain competitive in a high-stakes market.
