AI NewsDeepSeek reportedly raises $15B days after US restrictions

DeepSeek reportedly raises $15B days after US restrictions

7:40 PM IST · October 22, 2026

Just two days afterthe U.S. orderedfederal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek’s AI technology from their systems over security concerns, the Chinese AI lab has raised about $15 billion, about 100 billion yuan, one of the biggest funding rounds in the country,Bloombergreported. Potential investors include Chinese battery maker CATL and Tencent, the company behind WeChat, among others, according to the report. The reported funding follows DeepSeek’s investment round in June, when it raised more than$7 billionat a valuation of $50 billion. The company was also reportedly seeking an additional $1.5 billion at a valuation of around $71 billionin July, with plans for a potential IPO in China as early as next year. The Hangzhou-based AI startup is ramping up spending on AI infrastructure and open models for domestic and international markets, even as it faces restrictions in the U.S., the report said. Its expansion could further intensify competition among domestic rivals. The massive funding round is the latest sign of investors pouring billions into AI companies around the world, including those in China, to compete in the global AI race.  Chinese company Kimi developerMoonshot AIsecured $2 billion at a $20 billion valuation in May.Manus AIraised more than $500 million earlier this month. Meanwhile, Chinese companies Zhipu AI (Z.ai) and MiniMax, which both went public in Hong Kong in January, have market capitalizations of roughly$29 billionand$7.2 billion, respectively, as of today. DeepSeek was founded in 2023 byLiang Wenfeng, who previously co-founded Chinese quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer, which helped finance DeepSeek’s early development. The AI startup gained global attention in early 2025 with its free-to-use, open-weight RI reasoning model, challenging the dominance of US AI companies.  Liang still retains an estimated 81.6% stake in its Chinese operating entity following its earlier funding round, according to corporate ownership dataanalyzed by WireScreen. DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a TechCrunch request for comment.