DeepSeek nears US$45 billion valuation as China's "Big Fund" leads investment talks, FT reports

China’s biggest state-backed semiconductor investment vehicle, China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, is in talks to lead the financing of DeepSeek’s first fundraising that could value the frontier AI lab at about US$45 billion (HK$352.7 billion), the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing four people with knowledge of the discussions.

The new valuation represented a dramatic surge from earlier discussions that valued the AI company at US$20 billion a few weeks ago.

Other investors in the discussion included Tencent (0700), while DeepSeek's founder, Liang Wenfeng, may also participate in the new financial round, the report said.

Currently, Liang owns 89.5 percent of DeepSeek's shares via personal and affiliated holdings.

Reuters and staff reporter

 

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓