DeepSeek's Funding Round Has Grown From $7 Billion to Maybe $15 Billion Since June -- Reuters Still Can't Confirm the Number

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that DeepSeek is near signing commitments for at least 80 billion yuan (roughly $12 billion) from Tencent and CATL, China's largest electric-vehicle battery maker, in a round that could grow to 100 billion yuan (about $15 billion) on investor demand following the launch of DeepSeek's latest model. The reported terms would value the Hangzhou lab near 500 billion yuan (about $75 billion). Reuters said it could not independently verify Bloomberg's figures -- a caveat Reuters has attached to nearly every DeepSeek funding report so far this year.

That caution is worth taking seriously, because this isn't a new round. It's the same fundraising process Reuters first described in June -- at less than half the size and roughly a third less valuation than what's being reported now.

What's changed since June is specificity, not necessarily substance. June's reporting described talks and investors in "final-stage" discussions; Bloomberg's sources now describe signed commitments, a post-close restructuring, and funds earmarked for "AI model development, infrastructure expansion, and talent acquisition." Separately -- on a timeline that overlaps this round but doesn't depend on its final size -- DeepSeek hired dealmaker Yan Wentao as its first chief financial officer and engaged CITIC Securities, one of China's largest investment banks, to prepare a listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market.

Still, every number attached to this round -- 50 billion yuan in June, $74 billion in August, 80 to 100 billion yuan now -- has come from people described only as familiar with the matter, never from DeepSeek, Tencent, or CATL on the record. A reported size that has grown by roughly a third since June, with no confirming statement from any named party, is a number worth reading as reported, not settled -- which is exactly why Reuters keeps saying so.