DeepSeek lines up its first outside money: a $7bn round at up to $59bn

DeepSeek has spent eighteen months as the most talked-about AI lab that almost nobody could invest in. That is about to change. The Chinese startup is slated to raise roughly 50 billion yuan, about $7bn, in its first external funding round, according to people familiar with the matter, in a deal that would value it at between $52bn and $59bn.

The composition of the round is as telling as the size. Founder Liang Wenfeng is committing 20 billion yuan of his own money, a controlling share of the raise that keeps him firmly in charge of a company he has run with unusual independence.

Tencent is weighing about 10 billion yuan and battery giant CATL around 5 billion yuan, which would make them the largest outside backers. Hong Kong’s IDG Capital and Monolith Capital are also among the prospective investors. The round is expected to close within weeks.

That...

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