DeepSeek Lands $15 Billion in Funding Just Days After US Agency Ban

DeepSeek has pulled in roughly 100 billion yuan, or about $15 billion, in new capital. This massive funding round comes just two days after the United States directed federal civilian agencies to strip the company's artificial intelligence technology from their systems due to security concerns.

Potential contributors to this war chest include Tencent, the parent company of WeChat, and battery manufacturer CATL. Bloomberg reported these details regarding the transaction. The scale of this raise ranks it as one of the largest funding events in China this year.

This latest influx follows a busy year for the Hangzhou-based startup. In June, DeepSeek secured more than $7 billion at a valuation of $50 billion. By July, the company was reportedly seeking an additional $1.5 billion at a valuation near $71 billion. The organization is also preparing for a potential initial public offering in China as early as next year.

The company intends to deploy this capital toward expanding its AI infrastructure. It is also funding the development of open models for markets both inside China and internationally. This expansion is taking place even as the firm navigates restrictions within the U.S. market. Such growth could further escalate competition among domestic rivals.

This massive round reflects a broader pattern of investors pouring billions into artificial intelligence ventures across the globe, including those based in China. The goal for these backers is to compete in the global AI race. Other Chinese companies have seen significant activity in this sector recently. Moonshot AI, the developer of Kimi, secured $2 billion at a $20 billion valuation in May. Manus AI raised more than $500 million earlier this month.

Companies such as Zhipu AI, also known as Z.ai, and MiniMax went public in Hong Kong in January. As of today, Zhipu AI holds a market capitalization of roughly $29 billion. MiniMax holds a market capitalization of approximately $7.2 billion.

DeepSeek was founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng. Liang previously co-founded the Chinese quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer. That entity helped finance the early development of DeepSeek. The startup attracted global attention in early 2025 with the release of its free-to-use, open-weight R1 reasoning model. That release challenged the dominance of U.S. AI companies.

Following earlier funding rounds, Liang retains an estimated 81.6% stake in the Chinese operating entity. This figure comes from corporate ownership data analyzed by WireScreen. DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the new funding.