Two days later, DeepSeek raised $15 billion anyway

Chinese AI lab DeepSeek is wrapping up a funding round of about 100 billion yuan ($14.98 billion), one of the largest ever in China, Reuters reported Thursday. The biggest backers include battery giant CATL and WeChat operator Tencent, with Midea, Meituan, Geely, GigaDevice, Boyu Capital, CPE, Legend Capital and existing shareholder IDG Capital also participating — more than 15 investors in all, at a 500 billion yuan pre-money valuation.

The timing is the story: the raise lands two days after Washington ordered DeepSeek's AI technology purged from every federal civilian computer. Bloomberg first reported the round; Reuters confirmed it. Bloomberg's reporting says the fundraising target grew as talks went on, from 50 billion yuan to 100 billion, and DeepSeek has hired CITIC Securities to prepare for a potential STAR Market IPO.