Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is in talks for its first external funding round at a valuation of approximately $45 billion — more than double the figure discussed just weeks prior — according to the Financial Times and Bloomberg. China’s state-backed semiconductor investment vehicle, the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (Big Fund), is in talks to lead the round, with Tencent and Alibaba also in discussions to participate. Founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, DeepSeek rose to prominence in January 2025 after its low-cost reasoning model matched US rivals despite chip restrictions. Fresh capital will fund computing scale-up, aggressive hiring, and deeper ties with cloud partners.
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