Khaberni - Just two days after the United States issued instructions to federal civilian agencies to remove Deep Seek's AI technologies from their systems due to security concerns, the Chinese company seeks to raise about 15 billion dollars, 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 the Chinese battery manufacturer CATL, and Tencent, the owner of the "WeChat" app, along with other investors.
The anticipated funding round comes after a previous round conducted by "Deep Seek" in June, during which it raised more than 7 billion dollars at a company valuation of 50 billion dollars.
Reports in July also stated that the company was looking to raise an additional 1.5 billion dollars at an evaluation close to 71 billion dollars, with plans to potentially list its shares for public offering in China starting from the 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 the development of open models, aiming to serve both local and international markets, despite the restrictions it faces in the United States, according to the report.
This expansion is likely to increase the intensity of competition among Chinese AI companies, which are striving to enhance their technological capabilities and expand their presence in the global market.
If completed according to the announced value, this massive funding round reflects the continued flow of billions of dollars to AI companies around the world, including Chinese companies, within the global race to develop more advanced models and enhance competitive capabilities.
Other Chinese companies attract billions of dollars
The massive investments are not limited to "Deep Seek"; the AI model developer Moonshot AI, which developed the Kimi model, raised about two billion dollars in May at a valuation of 20 billion dollars.
Manus AI also raised more than 500 million dollars 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 last year, reached market valuations close to 29 billion dollars and 7.2 billion dollars respectively, according to the figures in the report.
These movements indicate the escalating competition among Chinese AI companies, concurrently with the expansion of global investments in the sector, and the companies' efforts to provide the necessary funding to develop models and build the required computational infrastructure.
From a hedge fund to a global competitor in artificial intelligence
"Deep Seek" was founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, who previously co-founded the Chinese quantitative hedge fund "High Flyer," which contributed to the initial stages of the company's development.
Deep Seek gained global attention in early 2025, after launching the RI inference model with open weights available for free use, challenging the dominance of American AI companies in this field.
According to company ownership data analyzed by WireScreen, Liang still holds an estimated 81.6% stake in the Chinese operating 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 are increasing among companies aiming to establish their positions in the global AI market.
