Khaberni - Just two days after the United States issued instructions for federal civilian agencies to remove Deep Seek's artificial intelligence technologies from their systems due to security concerns, the Chinese company is seeking to raise about $15 billion, equivalent to 100 billion yuan, in one of the largest funding rounds in China, according to Bloomberg.
According to the report, the list of potential investors includes CATL, a Chinese company specializing in battery manufacture, and Tencent, the owner of the "WeChat" application, along with other investors.
The expected funding round comes after a previous round conducted by "Deep Seek" in June, during which it raised more than $7 billion, valuing the company at $50 billion.
Reports in July also indicated that the company was seeking to raise an additional $1.5 billion, at a valuation approaching $71 billion, with plans to consider a public offering in China starting next year.
Huge investments to develop infrastructure and artificial intelligence models
The startup, based in Hangzhou, China, is increasing its spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure and developing open models, aiming to serve both the local and international markets, despite the restrictions it faces in the United States, according to the report.
This expansion is expected to intensify competition among Chinese artificial intelligence companies, which are striving to enhance their technological capabilities and expand their presence in the global market.
If completed according to the announced value, the massive funding round reflects the continued flow of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence companies around the world, including Chinese companies, in the global race to develop more advanced models and enhance competitiveness.
Other Chinese companies attract billions of dollars
The massive investments are not limited to "Deep Seek," as Moonshot AI, which developed the Kimi artificial intelligence model, raised about $2 billion in May, at a valuation of $20 billion.
Manus AI also raised more than $500 million earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the companies "Zibo AI," also known as "Z.ai," and "Mini Max," which listed their shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January, recorded market values of approximately $29 billion and $7.2 billion, respectively, according to the figures in the report.
These movements indicate an escalation of competition among Chinese artificial intelligence companies, concurrent with the expansion of global investments in the sector and companies' efforts to provide the necessary funding to develop models and build the computer infrastructure required to operate them.
From hedge fund to global competitor in artificial intelligence
"Deep Seek" was founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, who had previously co-founded the Chinese quantitative hedge fund "High Flyer," which contributed to the early stages of the company's development.
"Deep Seek" gained global attention in early 2025, after launching the RI reasoning model with open weights available for free use, challenging the dominance of American artificial intelligence companies in this field.
According to data analyzed by WireScreen, Liang still retains a stake estimated at about 81.6% in the Chinese operational entity of Deep Seek, following the previous funding round.
If completed, the new funding would provide the company with additional resources to expand its operations and develop its models, at a time when investments and competition among companies striving to consolidate their positions in the global artificial intelligence market are increasing.
