DeepSeek chases $71B valuation weeks after first funding round

DeepSeek is in early talks to raise a new round at roughly a $71 billion pre-money valuation, just weeks after closing its first external round of about $7 billion at a $52 billion valuation. The fresh capital would fund its own data centers and AI chip purchases to sustain permanent rock-bottom pricing on its V4 models, which is driving rapid adoption among US businesses. Founder Liang Wenfeng put in about $3 billion himself, with backers including CATL, Tencent, JD.com, NetEase, and China's state AI fund. DeepSeek is also designing its own inference chip to cut reliance on Nvidia and Huawei, even as domestic rivals Zhipu, MiniMax, and Moonshot press hard.

View full digest for July 15, 2026