DeepSeek hits pause on its mega-round after founder's leaked remarks go viral

DeepSeek is pumping the brakes on its second funding round.

Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter, that the AI startup has told some prospective investors it's postponing the signing of its second-round financing. The deal could still be revived, and it hasn't been completely called off.

The reason? Founder Liang Wenfeng is reportedly unhappy that the contents of the first-round meeting leaked onto the internet. A nearly four-hour meeting transcript has been making the rounds online, including a line where Liang supposedly says "the biggest gap between US and Chinese AI is computing resources." Neither DeepSeek nor Liang has confirmed the transcript's authenticity.

The timing matters: DeepSeek just closed its first round in June, raising about 50 billion yuan. The second round was expected to raise at least another 10 billion yuan, at a pre-money valuation of no less than 480 billion yuan.