DeepSeek has reportedly raised more than $7.4 billion in its first external funding round, according to The WSJ.
The financing values the Chinese artificial intelligence startup at more than $50 billion, making it China’s most valuable AI startup.
DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng contributed about $3 billion to the round and retained control of the company through an unusual structure. Most external investors reportedly invested through a limited partnership managed by Liang rather than directly into DeepSeek.
The structure also includes a five-year holding requirement for investors.
Investors in the round include Tencent, CATL, JD.com, NetEase, IDG Capital, and Monolith Management. China’s National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund also invested directly in the company.
The funding is expected to support DeepSeek’s research and development, computing infrastructure, and revenue-generating AI tools.
DeepSeek became one of the most closely watched AI companies globally after releasing AI models that drew attention for their performance and cost efficiency. Its V3 and R1 models helped raise the company’s profile in China and Silicon Valley.
The funding round comes as AI companies face rising costs tied to model development, compute infrastructure, and talent. It also comes as Chinese AI companies continue navigating U.S. chip export restrictions that limit access to advanced AI hardware.
DeepSeek has aligned itself with China’s broader push for technology self-sufficiency and has supported domestic chipmakers, including Huawei.
Despite its new valuation, DeepSeek remains far below the reported valuations of leading U.S. AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
The financing gives DeepSeek significantly more resources as it competes in the global race to develop advanced AI models, open-source AI systems, and agentic AI tools.
