DeepSeek Reportedly Raises $15 Billion Days After US Removal Order
The Chinese AI lab reportedly raised about 100 billion yuan, with potential investors including Tencent and CATL, two days after Washington ordered federal agencies to drop its technology
By AXY AI Desk ·
Key points
- DeepSeek has reportedly raised about $15 billion, roughly 100 billion yuan, in one of China's largest funding rounds, according to Bloomberg.
- The round came two days after the US ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek's AI technology over national security concerns.
- Potential investors reportedly include CATL and Tencent, among others, but the company has not confirmed the round.
- The reported raise is about twice the size of DeepSeek's June round, which topped $7 billion at a $50 billion valuation.
- DeepSeek has plans for a potential China IPO as early as next year.
DeepSeek, the Hangzhou-based AI startup, has reportedly raised about $15 billion in one of the largest funding rounds in China. Bloomberg reported that the sum is about 100 billion yuan. The round came just two days after the United States ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek's AI technology from their systems over national security concerns.
The timing is what makes the story stand out. A government order that shuts a company out of one of the world's largest customers would normally be expected to make fundraising harder. Instead, the reported round suggests that Chinese investors are still willing to put very large sums behind DeepSeek, even as the company faces restrictions in the US.
Two Days After Washington's Removal Order
The US order covers federal civilian agencies, meaning government departments outside the military. It directs them to take DeepSeek's AI technology out of their systems. The stated reason is security concerns, and that reason is what gives the order its weight. Government customers often set the tone for other buyers, so a removal order can change how private companies view a supplier, even when the restriction itself is limited in scope.
The funding report followed within days. For a company trying to win trust from large institutions, a US restriction is a real commercial setback in the American market. The reported investment, however, shows that DeepSeek's backers are not treating the American move as a reason to hold back their money.
DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TechCrunch, so the company has not publicly confirmed the size or terms of the round. The figures come from Bloomberg's reporting.
Who Is Reportedly Backing the Round
Bloomberg reported that potential investors include CATL and Tencent, among others. CATL is the Chinese battery maker, one of the largest producers of batteries for electric vehicles in the world. Tencent is the company behind WeChat, the messaging app used by a very large share of people in China. The two names sit in very different parts of the economy, which is part of what makes them worth noting.
For readers, the list points to something beyond pure AI research. Large industrial companies and consumer platforms are both interested in advanced AI models. A company with a battery maker and a messaging giant among its potential backers could find it easier to reach customers, build products into everyday services and secure computing resources.
The reporting describes these as potential investors. The participants and the final amount have not been confirmed by DeepSeek.
How This Round Compares With June's Raise
The reported $15 billion round follows a funding round in June, when DeepSeek raised more than $7 billion at a valuation of $50 billion. A valuation is the estimated value of the whole company. It is the figure that decides how much of the business a new investor gets in exchange for a given amount of money.
Bloomberg also reported that DeepSeek was seeking an additional $1.5 billion in July, at a valuation of around $71 billion. Put side by side, the June round, the July target and the newly reported $15 billion show how fast the company's financing has grown in a short time. The reported round is about twice the size of the June raise.
The pace points to heavy spending. DeepSeek is ramping up investment in AI infrastructure, which means the data centers, chips and computing power needed to build and run large models. Training advanced AI models is expensive, and serving them to millions of users is expensive too. Raising money on this scale is one way to pay for that work.
Liang Wenfeng's Hedge Fund Roots
DeepSeek was founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, who previously co-founded High-Flyer, a Chinese quantitative hedge fund. A quantitative hedge fund uses computer models and large volumes of data to make investment decisions. Reporting on the company notes that High-Flyer helped finance DeepSeek's early development. That gave the young company a financial base built by its founder before it became a household name in the AI field.
DeepSeek drew global attention in early 2025 with a free-to-use, open-weight reasoning model. An open-weight model releases its trained parameters so that other developers can download, study and run it on their own machines. A reasoning model is built to work through a problem step by step instead of producing a quick answer. The release challenged the dominance of US AI companies, which have mostly led the field with models that they keep closed.
Liang still retains an estimated 81.6% stake in DeepSeek's Chinese operating entity following the company's earlier funding round. That estimate comes from corporate ownership data analyzed by WireScreen. It suggests the founder remains the dominant owner of the business, even as outside investors put money in.
China's Wider Race for AI Money
The reported round is part of a broader flow of money into AI companies in China. Bloomberg's reporting, as summarized by TechCrunch, points to Moonshot AI, the developer behind the Kimi chatbot, which secured $2 billion at a $20 billion valuation in May. Manus AI raised more than $500 million earlier this month. Those deals show investors spreading large bets across several Chinese AI companies rather than concentrating on one.
Public markets are part of the picture as well. Zhipu AI, also known as Z.ai, and MiniMax both went public in Hong Kong in January. Their market capitalizations, the total value of their shares on the stock market, were reported at roughly $29 billion and $7.2 billion respectively at the time of the report. Those numbers give investors a public reference point for how Chinese AI firms are valued.
For ordinary users, the most visible effect of this kind of money is faster competition. Well-funded companies can release products more often, offer cheaper or free tools and pressure rivals to match them. Bloomberg reported that DeepSeek's expansion could further intensify competition among domestic rivals. This could mean more choice for people who use AI tools in China, but it also means smaller firms face a harder fight to keep up with the spending.
A Possible China IPO Next Year
An initial public offering, or IPO, is when a private company sells shares to the public on a stock exchange for the first time. DeepSeek has plans for a potential IPO in China as early as next year, according to the reporting. An IPO would open the company to public shareholders and put its finances under the regular scrutiny that comes with a listed business.
This could be the next major test for DeepSeek. The company has to show that its open models and heavy infrastructure spending can turn into revenue that supports a valuation well above its June level. It also has to keep investors confident while operating under a US restriction tied to security concerns. A listing would bring public disclosure requirements that private fundraising does not.
What Would Confirm the Round
The reported figures are still unconfirmed by the company. The most useful signals will be whether DeepSeek itself confirms the amount and investor list, whether CATL and Tencent are formally named as participants and whether the China IPO plans move from talk to official filings. Each step would show how much of the reported round is final and how far the company's ambitions go from here.
For readers outside China, the story is a reminder that AI competition is now being shaped as much by capital and government decisions as by technical breakthroughs. A US removal order can slow a company's reach in one market, while investors at home can supply the money to keep building. The next few weeks will show whether that balance holds.
Questions and answers
How much money has DeepSeek reportedly raised?
DeepSeek has reportedly raised about $15 billion, roughly 100 billion yuan, according to Bloomberg. Potential investors reportedly include CATL and Tencent, among others, and the company has not confirmed the round.
Why did the US restrict DeepSeek?
The US ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek's AI technology from their systems over national security concerns. The reported funding round came two days after that order.
Who founded DeepSeek?
DeepSeek was founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, who previously co-founded the Chinese quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer. High-Flyer helped finance DeepSeek's early development.
Is DeepSeek planning an IPO?
DeepSeek has plans for a potential IPO in China as early as next year. An IPO is when a company sells shares to the public on a stock exchange for the first time.
Topics: DeepSeek, Liang Wenfeng, High-Flyer, Tencent, CATL, China AI funding, US AI restrictions, Hangzhou
Sources: TechCrunch AI
https://axynewsglobal.com/article/deepseek-reportedly-raises-15-billion-days-after-us-removal-order