Chinese AI developer DeepSeek is expected to be valued at around 100 trillion won and raise approximately 20 trillion won in its ongoing investment round. [Getty Images]
Chinese AI developer DeepSeek is expected to be valued at around 100 trillion won and raise approximately 20 trillion won in its ongoing investment round. [Getty Images]

Chinese AI developer DeepSeek is expected to raise close to 100 billion yuan ($14.9 billion) in its ongoing investment round, according to a new report.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday (local time) that DeepSeek had initially set out to raise 50 billion yuan in the round, but interest surpassed expectations following the release of its latest AI model.

CATL, the world's largest battery manufacturer, and Tencent Holdings, the operator of WeChat, have committed the largest amounts to DeepSeek and are both existing investors in the company. Bloomberg projected that DeepSeek's valuation will reach at least 500 billion yuan — around 100 trillion won — once the round, expected to close soon, is finalized.

Bloomberg also projected that DeepSeek will pursue an initial public offering next year following the close of this round.

DeepSeek has committed to deploying more than 160,000 Huawei Technologies AI chips from its Ascend line at a data center under construction in China's Inner Mongolia. The facility will be the largest data center to use Huawei AI chips.

Meanwhile, rival Moonshot AI is targeting an IPO in early next year after completing a fundraising round at a valuation of $50 billion.


kate01@heraldcorp.com