DeepSeek Reportedly Raises $15 Billion as US Restrictions Tighten

TL;DR

• DeepSeek has reportedly raised approximately $15 billion, or 100 billion yuan.
• Bloomberg named Tencent and battery maker CATL among potential investors.
• The report comes two days after a US order to remove DeepSeek technology from federal civilian agency systems.

DeepSeek Secures Reported Multibillion-Dollar Funding

Chinese artificial intelligence developer DeepSeek has reportedly raised about $15 billion in one of the country’s largest funding rounds, according to Bloomberg.

The report identified Tencent, the technology group behind WeChat, and battery manufacturer CATL among potential investors. Their participation was not presented as confirmed.

The financing report comes just two days after the United States ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek’s AI technology from their systems over security concerns.

Despite those restrictions, the Hangzhou-based company is increasing investment in computing infrastructure and open models aimed at domestic and international users, Bloomberg reported.

Latest Round Follows Earlier Fundraising

The reported financing follows DeepSeek’s June investment round, which raised more than $7 billion at a valuation of $50 billion, according to Reuters.

In July, the company was also reportedly seeking an additional $1.5 billion at a valuation of approximately $71 billion. That report outlined the possibility of a Chinese initial public offering as early as 2027.

The latest report did not specify a valuation for the $15 billion round or establish whether the previously discussed July financing was completed.

The scale of the fundraising highlights the capital being committed to AI development as companies compete to expand their models and computing capacity.

Chinese AI Developers Attract Fresh Capital

DeepSeek’s reported raise follows substantial investments in other Chinese AI companies.

Moonshot AI, the developer of Kimi, secured $2 billion in May at a $20 billion valuation. Manus AI raised more than $500 million earlier this month.

Other developers have turned to public markets. Zhipu AI, also known as Z.ai, and MiniMax both listed in Hong Kong in January.

The growing availability of funding could intensify competition within China as developers pursue users, enterprise customers and the infrastructure needed to support increasingly capable AI systems.

Founder Liang Wenfeng Retains Significant Ownership

DeepSeek was founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, who previously co-founded quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer. The investment firm helped finance the startup’s early development.

The company attracted global attention in early 2025 with its free-to-use, open-weight R1 reasoning model, establishing itself as a prominent challenger to US AI developers.

According to corporate ownership data analyzed by WireScreen, Liang retained an estimated 81.6% stake in DeepSeek’s Chinese operating entity following its earlier funding round. The report does not establish his ownership following the latest reported financing.