Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has raised about 100 billion yuan (around $15 billion) in its latest funding round, according to Bloomberg News. Bloomberg cites people familiar with the matter; Reuters also reports the round.
What is reported
According to the report, the Hangzhou-based company raised its fundraising target at least twice: from an initial 50 billion yuan to 80 billion yuan before reaching the final amount. Among the largest investors, per Bloomberg, are battery maker CATL and Tencent, the operator of WeChat.
Context
According to the report, the funding could help narrow the resource gap with US rivals OpenAI and Anthropic, which have each raised more than $100 billion. According to the report, DeepSeek still has considerably less financial firepower. For German companies it remains open whether this leads to new models or open-source offerings that could become alternatives; this is currently not established.
Sources
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