Deepseek nearing $45 billion valuation as state chip fund leads funding talks

Deepseek is in advanced talks on a funding round that could value the Chinese AI lab at roughly $45 billion, with the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund leading and Tencent negotiating a stake, according to reporting cited on May 6, 2026.

Deepseek is in advanced negotiations over a financing round that could peg the Chinese AI laboratory’s valuation at about $45 billion, according to reporting cited on May 6, 2026. The talks represent a potentially large, near-term capital injection into one of China’s most prominent AI startups and mark a rapid shift in the company’s market worth.

The proposed lead investor in the round is the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund-commonly called the Big Fund-which has historically focused on domestic semiconductor companies. Past investments by the Big Fund have included major firms such as SMIC and Yangtze Memory. Reporting also says that Tencent is negotiating to take a stake alongside the state — backed investor. Founder Liang Wenfeng currently controls approximately 89.5 percent of Deepseek and may invest personally in the financing, according to the reports. Liang had originally planned a much smaller raise intended primarily to establish a valuation for employee stock options and to reduce the risk of talent losses to rivals, but those discussions have broadened significantly.

The implied valuation has climbed sharply in a matter of weeks, from roughly $20 billion to about $45 billion. That pace alters the calculus for employees and builders on equity compensation, retention and recruiting, and it gives investors a new market reference point for valuing Chinese AI labs competing for capital and talent. If the round closes at the reported scale, it would more closely tie China’s AI companies to state — led semiconductor policy through the Big Fund’s participation and could deepen commercial links between AI developers and large platform partners such as Tencent. The details reported so far remain subject to confirmation as negotiations continue.