DeepSeek’s first-ever round of external funding could value the Chinese AI start-up at $45 billion (£33bn), as the country’s largest state-backed semiconductor investment vehicle, the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund or “Big Fund”, engages in talks to lead the round, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
Earlier reports said that Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group are also in talks to take part in the round.
DeepSeek’s valuation for the round has grown rapidly since it began talks a few weeks ago, when it initially sought a valuation of a minimum of $10bn.
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State funding
