DeepSeek Initiates First External Fundraising, Valuation to Exceed $10 Billion

April 17th — The Information reports that Chinese AI firm DeepSeek is planning its first external financing, targeting a valuation of over $10 billion. This marks a shift from its previous self-developed model to bringing in outside capital. The round will be DeepSeek’s first large-scale external fundraising since its launch. Previously, the company relied mainly on parent company resources, with its valuation hitting roughly $3.4 billion in 2025. If the financing closes, the valuation will jump multiple times. In recent years, DeepSeek has surged with low-cost, high-performance open-source large language models (LLMs). Its model training costs are far below the industry’s mainstream level, while performance matches top U.S. models — shaking up the global AI competitive landscape. Market analysts say this move signals DeepSeek’s push to accelerate commercialization and global expansion, and reflects the capital market’s reassessment of the "low-cost AI path." As AI competition shifts from a compute power arms race to a focus on efficiency and real-world applications, DeepSeek is poised to become one of the most prominent challengers in the Chinese AI camp.