DeepSeek founder declares artificial general intelligence goal as 70 billion yuan funding round advances

Published Fri, May 22, 2026 · 11:57 AM

[BEIJING] DeepSeek’s senior management has told potential investors in its ongoing 70 billion yuan (S$13.2 billion) funding round that the startup will prioritise groundbreaking AI research over short-term commercialisation, people familiar with the matter said.

Founder Liang Wenfeng pledged in at least one meeting with investors he will keep developing open-source AI models while pursuing a broader goal of achieving artificial general intelligence, one of the people said. The hedge fund manager and AI pioneer made it clear the main goal is to push the boundaries of the technology rather than monetisation, the person said, asking to remain anonymous to discuss private deliberations.

DeepSeek, the Chinese outfit that in 2025 upended Silicon Valley with a far cheaper AI model, has drawn strong interest from a plethora of investors. It is in the final leg of discussions over a funding deal that may value the AI phenomenon at about US$45 billion before the investment, according to people familiar with the matter.

DeepSeek’s likely investors include the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, a vehicle Beijing set up to propel strategic AI projects, the people said. Tencent Holdings, IDG Capital and Monolith Capital are also close to securing their participation, the people said.

Discussions remain in flux and details from investment amounts to final participants could still change. More generally, DeepSeek’s focus on developing AI over making profits aligns with the startup’s consistent approach to the AI industry. Chinese open-source models have proliferated globally because of their broad accessibility, an approach popularised by DeepSeek and used to great effect by Alibaba Group Holding and its Qwen platform.

At the same time, pressure is mounting on AI firms – including in China – to begin delivering on the bottom-line after hundreds of billions of US dollars of investment in computing infrastructure. Liang’s research-first philosophy is striking at a time global peers from OpenAI to Anthropic are exploring public listings and multiple ways to generate new revenue.

If finalised, DeepSeek’s fundraising may set a record for a first-time financing by a Chinese tech startup. The state-backed AI fund is in talks to invest about 10 billion yuan, one of the people said, endorsing arguably the country’s highest-profile challenger to OpenAI.

The state vehicle’s involvement underscores the importance that Beijing is attaching to the startup.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund was in advanced talks to invest in DeepSeek at a valuation of about US$50 billion. Representatives for the state-backed fund and DeepSeek declined to comment. The finance ministry, which administers state-backed investment vehicles, did not respond to a faxed request for comment. Monolith and IDG declined to comment. Tencent representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

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Founded in 2023, DeepSeek is owned by hedge fund Zhejiang High-Flyer Asset Management. Liang could personally inject about 20 billion yuan in the funding round, one of the people said. The Information previously reported Liang’s deliberations.

The startup is now expanding into agentic AI in the wake of OpenClaw’s emergence, tapping a wave of enthusiasm for software that can carry out tasks without human intervention. BLOOMBERG