Civilian agency IT systems in the US were ordered to halt using DeepSeek on Monday over supposed security concerns.
DeepSeek has raised around $15bn (100bn yuan) in one of China’s largest ever private fundraising rounds, Bloomberg news first reported early this morning (22 October).
Contemporary Amperex Technology and Tencent were among the biggest investors in the latest round, which comes as DeepSeek readies itself for a highly anticipated public listing.
The raise, albeit significantly lower compared to what its US contemporaries OpenAI and Anthropic wield, represents the Chinese AI juggernaut’s appetite to compete on a global scale.
The company burst onto the scene just last year with its model R1, a surprise hit whose cost effectiveness and performance sent Silicon Valley leaders in a flurry.
DeepSeek was valued at about $71bn before this latest round, according to Financial Times reporting from September. At the end of May, it announced the closing of its first round which raised about $7bn at a post-money valuation of $52bn.
A second round was initially reported to be halted after comments associated with founder and CEO Liang Wenfeng talking to investors about the US-China AI rivalry went viral. According to Bloomberg, the Hangzhou-based company doubled its initial financing target of about $7.4bn for its latest raise.
The report comes just days after the US government ordered civilian agency IT systems to halt using all DeepSeek products and any third-party services using the AI model.
In its notice on Monday (20 October), the Department of Homeland Security cited security concerns as a major consideration, stating that “multiple threat vectors” could potentially “result in the transfer of sensitive data to [China] if used by US government employees or vendors”.
Responding to the situation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that China “will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests” companies in the country. “China consistently opposes the overstretching of the concept of national security.”
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