DeepSeek Nears $10 Billion Funding Round, Pledges to Chase AGI

DeepSeek is in the late stages of negotiating a massive $10 billion funding round, according to sources familiar with the matter. The company's executives have been telling investors that the money will go toward building artificial general intelligence — and that they're not in a hurry to turn a profit.

Likely investors include Tencent, IDG Capital, and Monolith Capital. China's National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund is also in talks to chip in about $1.4 billion. And, on top of all that, DeepSeek's parent company High-Flyer and founder Liang Wenfeng plan to pour in significant personal funds.

It's a big pivot for DeepSeek, which until now has been entirely bankrolled by High-Flyer's hedge fund returns, allowing it to avoid outside interference and short-term commercial pressure. But the AI arms race — in compute, clusters, and talent — has gotten absurdly expensive. DeepSeek is betting that opening the door to outside capital is the only way to make a real run at AGI.