DeepSeek nears $12 billion funding as investors bet big on AI
Artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek is close to raising at least 80 billion yuan ($12 billion) in a new funding round, as investors continue to commit large amounts of capital to leading AI companies.
The reported funding, with major companies including Tencent Holdings and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) among the investors, would significantly exceed DeepSeek’s initial target of about 50 billion yuan, according to Bloomberg.
The development comes amid rapidly rising valuations across the AI industry, with OpenAI, Anthropic and other AI companies attracting increasingly large amounts of private capital.
DeepSeek funding could approach $15 billion
Bloomberg reported that DeepSeek’s latest funding round could approach 100 billion yuan (or about $15 billion) based on signed term sheets, although the final amount could still change as negotiations continue.
The company had initially sought about 50 billion yuan, but investor interest reportedly exceeded expectations following the release of its latest AI model. Tencent and CATL are among the investors committing some of the largest amounts to the round, according to Bloomberg.
DeepSeek’s latest V4 Flash model has attracted attention for its performance relative to leading AI models from companies including OpenAI and Anthropic, while maintaining lower operating costs, according to Bloomberg.
The reported funding comes as DeepSeek plans to expand its computing capacity and develop new AI models amid intensifying competition between Chinese and US AI companies.
The company is also preparing for a potential initial public offering and plans to deploy at least 160,000 Huawei AI accelerators at a data centre under construction in Inner Mongolia.
OpenAI targets $1.4 trillion valuation
DeepSeek’s reported fundraising comes as OpenAI seeks to raise even larger amounts of capital as it expands its AI infrastructure and operations.
OpenAI closed a funding round in March with $122 billion in committed capital at a post-money valuation of $852 billion, according to the company.
Nairametrics reported last month that the company is now in discussions with investors to raise at least another $30 billion at a targeted valuation of about $1.4 trillion. Reuters reported that the discussions were at an early stage and that the terms could change.
If completed at the reported terms, the potential funding round would represent a substantial increase from OpenAI’s latest completed $852 billion valuation and further highlight the scale of capital being directed toward frontier AI companies.
Anthropic targets valuation above $2 trillion
The surge in valuations among leading AI companies extends beyond OpenAI, with Anthropic also seeing a sharp increase in its valuation expectations.
Anthropic, the developer of Claude, was valued at $965 billion after raising $65 billion in its Series H funding round in May.
However, the company has since moved toward a potential public listing. Nairametrics reported this month that Anthropic’s September IPO prospectus indicates that it is targeting a valuation of between $1.8 trillion than $2 trillion. The figure would be more than twice its $965 billion private valuation from May.
Anthropic reported nearly $4.6 billion in revenue in 2025 and a $42 billion net loss, while outlining plans for $518 billion in future cloud, computing and infrastructure obligations, according to its IPO prospectus.
The rapid increase in the company’s potential valuation reflects growing investor expectations surrounding AI, despite the enormous infrastructure costs required to operate and develop frontier models.
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