BlockBeats News, April 17th, according to The Information, Chinese AI company DeepSeek is planning its first-ever external financing, aiming for a valuation of over $10 billion, marking its shift from a relatively “self-developed driven” model to introducing external capital.
The report stated that this round of financing will be DeepSeek’s first large-scale external fundraising since its establishment. Previously, the company mainly relied on the resources of its parent company for development, with its valuation reaching about $3.4 billion in 2025. If this financing is completed, the valuation will increase several times.
In recent years, DeepSeek has rapidly risen with low-cost, high-performance open-source large models. Its model training costs are significantly lower than the industry’s mainstream level, and its performance is on par with top models in the United States, which has had an impact on the global AI competitive landscape.
Market analysis believes that this move signifies DeepSeek’s acceleration in commercialization and global expansion, while also reflecting the capital market’s reassessment of the “low-cost AI route.” Against the backdrop of the current AI competition shifting from “compute power arms race” to “efficiency and application landing,” DeepSeek is expected to become one of the most representative challengers in the Chinese camp.
