DeepSeek is close to raising $12 billion, past its own target
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, October 6, that DeepSeek is close to raising at least 80 billion yuan, about $12 billion, past a 50 billion yuan target, with Tencent and CATL among the largest backers.
Key takeaways
DeepSeek, the Chinese AI company, is close to raising about $12 billion, more than it asked for. People familiar with the talks told Bloomberg on Tuesday that the figure is at least 80 billion yuan, against a target of about 50 billion yuan for this round.
Those people said the round should close soon, and that the terms can still change in the final talks.
Tencent, the company behind WeChat, and battery maker CATL have committed among the largest amounts, they said.
Based on agreements already signed, the total could approach 100 billion yuan, the people said.
The people said interest ran ahead of expectations after DeepSeek released its latest model, which Bloomberg identified as V4 Flash. They asked not to be named because the details are not public.
A 2025 model matched leading American models at a much lower cost, Bloomberg said.
Until this year the company ran on High-Flyer, founder Liang Wenfeng's hedge fund. In June it closed a separate first round, also about 50 billion yuan, which put a value of roughly 350 billion yuan on the company.
A later filing showed Tencent put in 10 billion yuan in that round and CATL put in 5 billion.
The talks now underway are a second round, opened over the summer. For that round, DeepSeek had targeted a value of about 500 billion yuan, about $74 billion.
OpenAI is seeking more money, at a much higher value. On September 29 Bloomberg reported that OpenAI was seeking at least $30 billion, at about $1.4 trillion, not including the new money.
Tencent wants to bring AI into its apps and services, and CATL may want to supply parts for AI projects, including data centers, Bloomberg reported.
Separately, Bloomberg has reported a plan to put at least 160,000 Huawei accelerators, chips used for AI, in a data center in Inner Mongolia.
CATL's shares in Shenzhen did not trade on Tuesday. Mainland markets were closed for the National Day holiday.
Bloomberg said a CATL representative declined to comment, Tencent had no immediate comment, and DeepSeek did not answer an email during the holiday.
Reuters said it could not immediately verify Bloomberg's report. A separate Reuters story cited its own source saying DeepSeek is set to raise more than 80 billion yuan.
DeepSeek has hired CITIC Securities to prepare a possible listing on Shanghai's STAR Market, a board for tech companies. The people said that if this round closes, the next step is to reshape the company for that listing, and that early 2027 is the aim.
Frequently asked questions
How far past its target is DeepSeek's raise?
People familiar with the talks told Bloomberg the round is at least 80 billion yuan, about $12 billion, against a target of about 50 billion yuan.
Who is putting in the most money?
Tencent and battery maker CATL have committed among the largest amounts, those people said.
Is a stock listing part of the plan?
DeepSeek has hired CITIC Securities to prepare a possible Shanghai STAR Market listing, with early 2027 as the aim if this round closes.
Has anyone confirmed Bloomberg's report?
DeepSeek did not answer an email during the holiday, a CATL representative declined to comment, and Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report.
