DeepSeek Reportedly Raises $15 Billion Amid U.S. Restrictions

By Grace Kim

DeepSeek raised about $15 billion, or about 100 billion yuan, two days after the U.S. ordered federal civilian agencies to remove its AI technology from their systems over security concerns, Bloomberg reported. Bloomberg called it one of China’s biggest funding rounds. The report named battery maker CATL and Tencent, the company behind WeChat, as potential investors.

What are the deal terms?

Bloomberg said the new financing followed DeepSeek’s June raise of more than $7 billion at a $50 billion valuation. In July, the company reportedly sought another $1.5 billion at a valuation of around $71 billion, Bloomberg said. On Bloomberg’s figures, July’s valuation sat roughly $21 billion above June’s $50 billion mark.

At about $15 billion, the new raise is more than twice the size of June’s round, based on Bloomberg’s figures.

The report said DeepSeek had plans for a potential IPO in China as early as next year. Bloomberg gave no valuation for the $15 billion round and did not confirm CATL, Tencent or another named investor as a participant. DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a TechCrunch request for comment.

The financing size is clear; the valuation and confirmed buyers aren’t.

What is DeepSeek expanding?

Bloomberg said the Hangzhou-based AI startup is ramping up spending on AI infrastructure and open models for domestic and international markets. The report said the expansion could further intensify competition among DeepSeek’s domestic rivals even as the startup faces U.S. restrictions.

Bloomberg specified no dollar amount for either infrastructure or open-model work. The $15 billion therefore represents a total financing figure rather than a disclosed spending allocation. The report links DeepSeek’s spending push to those two priorities without publishing a budget for either one.

The spending direction is clear; the dollar allocation isn’t.

Who founded and controls DeepSeek?

DeepSeek was founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, Bloomberg said. Liang previously co-founded the Chinese quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer, which helped finance DeepSeek’s early development, according to the report.

DeepSeek gained global attention in early 2025 when it offered its free-to-use, open-weight R1 reasoning model, Bloomberg said. The report said the model challenged the dominance of U.S. AI companies.

Corporate ownership data analyzed by WireScreen estimated that Liang retained 81.6% of DeepSeek’s Chinese operating entity after the earlier funding round.

WireScreen’s estimate leaves Liang as the majority owner of the Chinese operating entity.

How does the round compare with China’s AI peers?

Bloomberg framed DeepSeek’s financing as the latest sign of investors worldwide committing billions to AI companies as they compete in the global AI race. It offered these Chinese benchmarks:

• Moonshot AI, the developer of Kimi, secured $2 billion at a $20 billion valuation in May.
• Manus AI raised more than $500 million earlier this month.
• Zhipu AI (Z.ai) and MiniMax went public in Hong Kong in January. Bloomberg put their market capitalizations at roughly $29 billion and $7.2 billion, respectively, at the time of the report.

On Bloomberg’s figures, DeepSeek’s approximately $15 billion raise was roughly 7.5 times Moonshot AI’s $2 billion round and at least 30 times Manus AI’s more-than-$500 million raise. The report gave no valuation for the latest DeepSeek round, so it offered no direct valuation comparison with Zhipu AI or MiniMax.

The $15 billion round is the largest private financing in Bloomberg’s comparison, while the Hong Kong listings provide the public-market reference points.

Based on Bloomberg’s report, the next disclosures to watch are the confirmed investors, the round’s valuation and an IPO timetable, with a China listing possible as early as next year.