DeepSeek seeks $45B valuation as China's big fund eyes lead
Technology
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is aiming for a massive $45 billion valuation, more than double what it was worth just weeks ago.
The funding round is expected to be led by China's Big Fund, which would mark its first investment in an LLM developer.
Tencent and Flounder are also considering joining in, though nothing's final yet.
DeepSeek's R1 rivals OpenAI
DeepSeek, founded by billionaire Liang Wenfeng, made waves with its R1 open-source model that rivals big names like OpenAI, even with fewer resources.
The company has been tuning its tech for local chips like Huawei's, showing China's push to build homegrown AI and rely less on US technology.
Big Fund shifting from chips to backing AI startups highlights how serious China is about leading the next wave of tech.