Beijing, June 2026 : DeepSeek, the Chinese artificial intelligence startup that gained global attention last year with its V3 and R1 models, is preparing to raise about 50 billion yuan — roughly $7.4 billion — in its first external funding round, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal could value the company at between 350 and 400 billion yuan, or $52 to $59 billion.
For a company that has operated almost entirely on the private wealth of its founder, the move marks a significant shift. Liang Wenfeng, who built DeepSeek out of the proceeds of his quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer, is himself committing 20 billion yuan to the round. The remaining 30 billion yuan is expected to come from a small group of outside investors, with the company keeping the total below ten.
Tencent is in discussions to contribute around 10 billion yuan, which would make it the largest external backer. Battery giant CATL is considering a 5 billion yuan investment. NetEase, JD.com, and China's national AI fund are also in final talks, according to people familiar with the matter. Sources said discussions are in advanced stages, although final terms may still change.
The funding is expected to support computing infrastructure and the development of next-generation AI agents, according to people familiar with the matter. AI agents — systems capable of performing complex tasks with minimal human intervention — are seen by many in the technology industry as a key area of focus for the next phase of AI development.
The involvement of CATL reflects the growing energy demands of AI infrastructure. As artificial intelligence workloads require increasing amounts of power, battery and energy storage companies have become more prominent participants in the broader AI supply chain, according to industry observers.
Tencent, meanwhile, has strategic reasons beyond financial return. The tech giant has been developing its own Hunyuan AI model but finds itself competing with Alibaba's Qwen, ByteDance's Doubao, and DeepSeek itself. A stake in DeepSeek would give Tencent a closer relationship with one of China's most closely watched AI companies.
The valuation, while significant by any domestic standard, reflects a wider gap between the two countries' AI investment cultures. U.S. AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic have raised substantially larger amounts of capital, highlighting the funding difference between American and Chinese AI firms.
Western export restrictions have limited DeepSeek's access to the most advanced American AI chips, shaping its hardware and development strategy. The company's V3 and R1 models attracted global attention for their performance and cost-efficiency. DeepSeek is widely viewed as one of China's leading AI startups following their success.
The round is expected to close within the coming weeks, though terms remain subject to change.