Deepseek nears 70 billion yuan round as founder prioritizes AGI research

Deepseek is reportedly nearing a roughly 70 billion yuan financing that would value the company at about $45 billion, a development that underscores the startup’s choice to prioritize long‑term AI research over immediate profit. Reporting summarized May 22, 2026 says founder Liang Wenfeng told investors he intends to put basic AI research and work toward artificial general intelligence ahead of short‑term profitability goals. If completed, the round would significantly boost Deepseek’s capital for both research and product work.

Liang has signaled the company will continue supporting open‑source model releases even as it intensifies basic research, and Deepseek is developing a coding product called "Deepseek Code." The product is positioned as a potential competitor to existing coding assistants such as Claude Code and other tools that currently serve many B2B workflows, indicating the company plans to pursue commercial products alongside its research agenda.

Expected participants in the financing talks reportedly include China’s state‑owned National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, which could contribute about 10 billion yuan, alongside private investors such as Tencent, IDG Capital and Monolith Capital. The report cautions that negotiations are ongoing and that deal terms and the final list of participants could change before any agreement is signed. Even with the new capital, the financing would leave Deepseek’s valuation modest relative to the largest Western AI labs. The report notes leading Western firms are approaching valuations in the upper hundreds of billions to near‑trillion‑dollar territory, which would place Deepseek well below those benchmarks even after this round.

For builders and product teams, the likely outcomes are clear: more funding could accelerate model and tooling development, but Liang’s public emphasis on AGI and basic research suggests a portion of effort will be devoted to long‑term capabilities rather than immediately monetizable features. priorities and the regulatory environment. Given that negotiations remain in progress, specific timelines and final investor commitments are still uncertain.