DeepSeek raises about $15 billion, one of the largest rounds in China's history; Bloomberg reports it closed two days after US agencies were ordered to remove its technology
Prepared by Sintelligent with the help of SI. Published in SI: . Updated: .
A Chinese lab got one of the country's largest rounds right after its technology was banned in US agencies.
According to Semafor, DeepSeek raised about $15 billion after twice raising the target of the round; analysts cited by the outlet see it as preparation for an imminent listing. TechCrunch, citing Bloomberg, reports that CATL and Tencent took part in the round, an IPO in China is possible as early as next year, and founder Liang Wenfeng keeps about 81.6% of the operating company. The round came two days after US authorities ordered civilian federal agencies to remove DeepSeek technology from their systems over security concerns; Semafor adds that regulators in several countries have stepped up scrutiny of the company's security and privacy policies. The money will go to infrastructure and open models for domestic and international markets.
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