DeepSeek seeks first outside funding at $10 billion valuation amid AI capital crunch

China's DeepSeek is raising funds at $10 billion valuation, The Information reports

April 17 (Reuters) - Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek is in talks with investors to raise at least $300 million at a valuation of $10 billion, The Information reported on Friday, citing two people familiar with the matter. The company, whose low-cost models took the AI industry by storm and rattled stock markets last year, ⁠has previously turned down multiple funding offers from China's top venture capital firms and tech giants, the report said. The potential fundraise underscores the intense capital requirements for developing and running top-of-the line AI models amid the rise of advanced reasoning and agentic bots. DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. ⁠Reuters could not immediately verify the report. As a Chinese startup, some U.S. venture capitalists might hesitate about investing in DeepSeek, the report said. Reuters reported earlier this year that ⁠the company did not show U.S. chipmakers its flagship model for performance optimization, and had trained one of its newest models on ⁠Nvidia's (NVDA.O), opens new tab most advanced chip despite it being banned. China, meanwhile, has been working to ensure that local ⁠firms use domestic processors and reduce reliance on foreign technology. Reporting by Abu Sultan and Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Devika Syamnath Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

DeepSeek seeks outside funding at $10 billion valuation

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is in talks to raise at least $300 million at a valuation of $10 billion, according to The Information, which cited two people familiar with the matter. The fundraise would mark the first time DeepSeek has sought outside capital. Prior to this round, approaches from prominent Chinese venture capital firms and major tech companies had all been rebuffed, The Information reported. The Information noted that DeepSeek's Chinese origins could give pause to potential backers in the United States. DeepSeek did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters, which said it could not verify the report. This move reflects a larger challenge in the AI industry. Developing and maintaining advanced models, especially as they become more capable, demands significant financial resources. DeepSeek drew international attention after its low-cost models briefly matched the performance of leading American AI systems in early 2025, rattling stock markets and prompting scrutiny of the assumptions underlying U.S. AI investment. As of March 2026, the gap between the top U.S. model and its best Chinese competitor stood at just 2.7 percentage points, according to Stanford University's annual AI Index report. DeepSeek's relationship with U.S. chipmakers has been a separate point of tension. Earlier Reuters reporting found that DeepSeek had withheld its primary model from U.S. chip companies seeking to optimize its performance, and that hardware from Nvidia $NVDA subject to export restrictions had been used to train one of its recent models. Separately, Beijing has made reducing dependence on foreign chips a priority, steering companies toward homegrown semiconductor alternatives.