DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence laboratory, is nearing a $45 billion valuation in its first external investment round, according to reports from TechCrunch and the Financial Times. The company, which gained prominence in early 2025, has attracted interest from major investors including Tencent.
DeepSeek came to prominence after launching a large language model that was trained using a fraction of the computational resources and at a fraction of the cost of comparable models developed by large U.S. technology companies, TechCrunch reported. The efficiency of this training process drew significant attention to the startup.
The Financial Times reported that DeepSeek's valuation has risen sharply in ongoing fundraising discussions, with investors such as Tencent seeking a stake in the AI lab. TechCrunch noted that the company could reach the $45 billion mark from this first investment round. The exact terms and participants in the fundraising have not been publicly disclosed.
Left emphasis: TechCrunch, a left-leaning outlet, highlighted the contrast between DeepSeek's model training costs and those of major U.S. models, emphasizing the fraction of compute power and expense required.
Right emphasis: No right-leaning sources reported on this story.
Current status: Fundraising discussions are ongoing, and DeepSeek's valuation could reach $45 billion, with Tencent among the investors seeking involvement.
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