Report: DeepSeek raises 100 billion yuan, with Tencent and CATL participating
People familiar with the matter said that during negotiations with investors, DeepSeek raised its funding target at least twice, from an initial 50 billion yuan to 80 billion yuan, with the final funding amount reaching 100 billion yuan. CATL and Tencent were among the largest investors in this round. This round of funding paves the way for its future listing, but DeepSeek's financial strength still lags behind Anthropic and OpenAI, which have each raised more than $100 billion. DeepSeek has increased investment in AI data centers and released V4.1 Flash in September this year, triggering declines in the share prices of MiniMax and Zhipu.
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The funding target was raised twice to 100 billion yuan; readers can use this to observe changes in the funding gap between DeepSeek and OpenAI and Anthropic.
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DeepSeek
According to people familiar with the matter, DeepSeek raised its fundraising target at least twice during negotiations with investors, from an initial 50 billion yuan to 80 billion yuan, with the final amount raised reaching 100 billion yuan. CATL and Tencent are among the largest investors in this round of DeepSeek's fundraising.
This round of fundraising paves the way for DeepSeek's future listing and is expected to be one of the most anticipated IPOs in the Chinese market in years. In 2025, DeepSeek demonstrated the ability to compete with leading Silicon Valley companies at a model development cost far lower than theirs, triggering turmoil in global stock markets and wiping out $1 trillion in market value. However, DeepSeek's financial strength has never been comparable to that of leading U.S. AI labs.
The latest funding round shows that this gap in financial strength is beginning to narrow. Still, DeepSeek's financial strength remains below that of Anthropic and OpenAI, each of which has raised more than $100 billion. Bloomberg previously reported that, like rival Moonshot AI, DeepSeek is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO). The listing will be an important milestone for the Chinese market.
DeepSeek has begun to invest more aggressively in building AI data centers and developing more open-source models for use in China and overseas. The company regularly releases high-performance, low-cost models, putting pressure on domestic competitors and winning customers in the United States and other overseas markets. For example, in September this year, it released V4.1 Flash, which sent shares of domestic rivals MiniMax and Zhipu falling.
The AI analysis firm Artificial Analysis once published a widely circulated benchmark chart that outlined the so-called "DeepSeek death zone": if competitors cannot surpass DeepSeek in performance or offer lower prices, they will struggle to survive.
As of publication, representatives of DeepSeek, Tencent and CATL had not responded to requests for comment.