DeepSeek is currently in the process of raising capital, with the potential to secure up to $15 billion in its latest funding round. This figure exceeds the company's initial goal of $7.4 billion, or ¥50 billion. The round is expected to close soon, with major backing from Tencent and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.
The company is preparing for an initial public offering scheduled for next year. Market observers consider this upcoming listing one of the most anticipated debuts on the Chinese stock market. DeepSeek gained significant attention last year after launching an AI model that demonstrated performance levels comparable to U.S. competitors while utilizing fewer Nvidia chips.
Recent reports indicate that DeepSeek has more than doubled its annualized revenue run rate over the past few months, reaching $1 billion. Meanwhile, industry rival Moonshot is also planning an IPO for early 2027, following a funding round that resulted in a company valuation of $50 billion.
Separately, Visa's senior director of product for agentic commerce, Pavan HS, noted that merchants are increasingly viewing AI agents as a new sales channel. Businesses are currently evaluating strategies for integrating product catalogs into these platforms, weighing the benefits of building proprietary chatbots against utilizing existing AI services.
