DeepSeek Valuation Doubles to $45B in Weeks

Chinese AI lab DeepSeek is in talks to raise its first venture capital round, with its valuation jumping from $20 billion to $45 billion in just weeks, according to the Financial Times and Bloomberg. The round is reportedly led by a state investment vehicle, with Tencent and Alibaba also in talks to participate. Founder Liang Wenfeng, who controls nearly 90% of the company, opted to raise funds to offer employees equity amid competitor poaching. DeepSeek gained global attention in early 2025 for training powerful AI models at a fraction of U.S. competitors costs, optimized to run on Huawei chips.