China’s DeepSeek Seeks $15 Billion to Strengthen Global AI Competition
Potential investors reportedly include Chinese battery maker CATL and Tencent, the parent company of WeChat, alongside other investors. The planned fundraising follows DeepSeek’s previous round in June, when the company reportedly raised more than $7 billion at a valuation of $50 billion.
Reports in July also indicated that DeepSeek was seeking an additional $1.5 billion at a valuation of approximately $71 billion, while considering a potential initial public offering in China as early as next year.
Headquartered in Hangzhou, DeepSeek plans to increase spending on AI infrastructure and open-weight models to serve domestic and international markets, despite restrictions affecting its operations in the United States, according to the report.
The company’s fundraising plans reflect intensifying competition among Chinese AI developers seeking to strengthen their technological capabilities and expand their global market presence.
Other Chinese AI companies have also attracted substantial investment. Moonshot AI, the developer of the Kimi model, reportedly raised around $2 billion in May at a valuation of $20 billion. Manus AI secured more than $500 million earlier this month. Meanwhile, Zhipu AI, also known as Z.ai, and MiniMax, both listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January, reached market capitalizations of approximately $29 billion and $7.2 billion, respectively, according to the report.
Founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, who previously co-founded the Chinese quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer, DeepSeek received early financial backing from the fund. The startup gained international attention in early 2025 after releasing its R1 reasoning model, an openly available, open-weight system that challenged the dominance of US AI companies.
According to corporate ownership data analyzed by WireScreen, Liang retained an estimated 81.6% stake in DeepSeek’s Chinese operating entity following the previous funding round.
If completed, the proposed fundraising would provide DeepSeek with additional resources to expand its operations and develop its models as global investment in AI infrastructure and advanced systems continues to accelerate.
