DeepSeek Closes $15B Round Amid U.S. Restrictions

Washington recently ordered federal civilian agencies to strip DeepSeek's artificial intelligence tools from their systems, yet the Chinese AI lab proceeded to secure approximately 15 billion dollars in fresh funding.

Two days after the U.S. directive concerning security risks, DeepSeek raised roughly 100 billion yuan, marking one of the largest capital injections into a Chinese technology company to date. Bloomberg reported that potential investors include battery manufacturer CATL and Tencent, the developer behind WeChat. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the transaction.

This capital event marks a rapid escalation for the Hangzhou-based startup over the course of a single year. In June, DeepSeek secured more than 7 billion dollars at a valuation of 50 billion dollars. By July, the firm was reportedly seeking another 1.5 billion dollars at a valuation near 71 billion dollars, with plans to pursue an initial public offering in China as early as next year. Following the June round, Liang Wenfeng, who founded the company in 2023, retains an estimated 81.6% stake in the Chinese operating entity, according to corporate ownership data analyzed by WireScreen.

Liang previously co-founded the quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer, which provided financing for DeepSeek's early development. The startup drew international attention in early 2025 with its free-to-use, open-weight R1 reasoning model, which challenged the dominance of U.S. AI companies. DeepSeek is now planning to ramp up spending on AI infrastructure and open models for both domestic and international markets, a move that could intensify competition among its domestic rivals.

Investors are continuing to pour billions into AI companies worldwide, including in China, to compete in the global AI race. For comparison, Chinese company Moonshot AI, developer of Kimi, secured 2 billion dollars in May at a 20 billion dollar valuation. Manus AI raised more than 500 million dollars earlier this month. Chinese companies Zhipu AI and MiniMax, which both went public in Hong Kong in January, have market capitalizations of roughly 29 billion dollars and 7.2 billion dollars, respectively, as of today.

Looking ahead, DeepSeek intends to deploy the new capital to expand its infrastructure and model offerings across international markets, even as it faces restrictions within the United States. The company's reported plans for an IPO in China as early as next year remain a key milestone on the horizon.