Full Breakdown
DeepSeek Secures $15 Billion Funding Amid U.S. Restrictions
By Drooid · · How we work
Background: Rapid Rise and Prior Funding
Founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng—formerly a co-founder of the quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer—DeepSeek quickly gained attention with its free, open-weight RI-reasoning model released in early 2025. The model’s capabilities were described as rivaling those of U.S. frontier labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic. In June 2026 the Hangzhou-based startup raised more than $7 billion at a $50 billion valuation, and in July it sought an additional $1.5 billion at a valuation near $71 billion, according to Bloomberg reporting cited by TechCrunch.
Funding Sources and Valuation
Two days after U.S. agencies ordered the removal of DeepSeek’s technology, Bloomberg reported that the company closed a fresh financing round of about $15 billion (roughly 100 billion yuan). Potential investors include Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) and internet giant Tencent. The round follows earlier capital inflows that have propelled DeepSeek toward a possible Shanghai IPO as early as next year. For context, fellow Chinese AI firms have also attracted sizable backing: Moonshot AI secured $2 billion at a $20 billion valuation, Manus AI raised over $500 million, Zhipu AI (Z.ai) holds a market cap of roughly $29 billion, and MiniMax is valued at about $7.2 billion. Liang retains an estimated 81.6 % stake in DeepSeek’s Chinese operating entity.
U.S. Government Response
The Department of Homeland Security ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek’s models, warning that the technology presents multiple threat vectors and could result in the transfer of sensitive data to the People’s Republic of China if used by U.S. government employees or vendors. The Commerce Department, the U.S. Navy, and New York state have enacted comparable restrictions on the use of DeepSeek’s models.
Implications for the Global AI Competition
The sizable funding underscores investors’ confidence that DeepSeek can compete with U.S. AI leaders despite regulatory headwinds. Analysts note that the influx of capital into Chinese AI firms intensifies the broader race for advanced artificial-intelligence capabilities, potentially reshaping market dynamics and prompting further policy scrutiny on both sides of the Pacific.
