DeepSeek reportedly raises about $15 billion, days after a US federal ban

Chinese AI lab DeepSeek has raised about $15 billion (roughly 100 billion yuan), Bloomberg reported on 22 October 2026, in what would be one of the largest funding rounds in China. TechCrunch, which followed up the report, noted that DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

What is reported

• According to Bloomberg, as cited by TechCrunch, potential investors include battery maker CATL and Tencent, among others.
• The Hangzhou-based company is said to be increasing spending on AI infrastructure and on open models for domestic and international markets.
• The report comes two days after the US ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek technology from their systems over security concerns.

Context

TechCrunch recalls that DeepSeek raised more than $7 billion at a $50 billion valuation in June, and was reported in July to be seeking another $1.5 billion at about $71 billion, with a possible IPO in China as early as next year. The lab was founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, co-founder of the quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer, and drew global attention in early 2025 with its open-weight R1 reasoning model.

The figures come from media reports based on unnamed sources and have not been confirmed by the company.