DeepSeek in talks to raise first outside funding at a $45 billion…

Team S · 2026-05-07T14:00:29.000Z

DeepSeek, the Chinese AI lab that upended the global AI industry last year, is in talks to raise its first round of external funding at a valuation of approximately $45 billion — up sharply from $20 billion when discussions first began just weeks earlier, and from an earlier reported target of $10 billion. The round is expected to raise between $300 million and $4 billion, with proceeds earmarked for expanding computing infrastructure and boosting staff compensation. China's state-backed China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund — widely known as the "Big Fund" — is in talks to lead the round, according to the Financial Times, citing four sources. It would mark the Big Fund's first known investment in a large language model developer. Tencent and Alibaba are also among the parties still in discussions for a stake, though the final structure and investor lineup have not been finalised. DeepSeek was founded in July 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, a 40-year-old computer scientist and co-founder of the quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer Capital Management, who controls nearly 90% of the company. Until now, the lab had been funded entirely from High-Flyer's balance sheet, repeatedly rebuffing approaches from venture capital firms and major technology companies. It rose to global prominence in early 2025 after releasing a large language model that matched the performance of leading US systems at a fraction of the cost and compute, briefly rattling stock markets worldwide. The fundraising reflects both operational and strategic imperatives. Developing and maintaining frontier AI models increasingly demands substantial capital, and a deal with state-backed investors would likely bring more than funding — including access to state-aligned customers and a signal that DeepSeek is now considered strategically important to China's national AI ambitions. Neither DeepSeek nor the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund provided a public statement on the reported talks.

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DeepSeek in talks to raise first outside funding at a $45 billion… | Newnex