DeepSeek reportedly raises $15B days after US restrictions
Chinese AI lab DeepSeek has raised $15 billion in a massive funding round, despite recent U.S. restrictions on its technology. The company is aggressively expanding its AI infrastructure to compete with global leaders in the reasoning model space.
Why it matters
This funding highlights the resilience of the Chinese AI sector and the ongoing global race for dominance in artificial intelligence despite geopolitical trade barriers.
Just two days after the U.S. ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek’s AI technology from their systems over security concerns, the Chinese AI lab has raised about $15 billion, about 100 billion yuan, one of the biggest funding rounds in the country, Bloomberg reported.
Potential investors include Chinese battery maker CATL and Tencent, the company behind WeChat, among others, according to the report.
The reported funding follows DeepSeek’s investment round in June, when it raised more than $7 billion at a valuation of $50 billion. The company was also reportedly seeking an additional $1.5 billion at a valuation of around $71 billion in July , with plans for a potential IPO in China as early as next year.
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