DeepSeek Raises $15.9 Billion in Second Funding Round

2026-10-24 · Tech · China

DeepSeek closed its second funding round, raising 106 billion yuan ($15.9 billion) in one of the largest fundraisings ever seen in China's AI sector, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The amount is more than double the company's original target of 50 billion yuan. The deal signals continued appetite among investors for Chinese foundation model developers even as U.S. restrictions on outbound investment tighten, and it gives DeepSeek a large pool of capital to compete with better-funded U.S. frontier labs on model development and compute.

Why it matters：A fundraising of this scale for a Chinese lab shows that capital is still flowing to foundation model developers outside the U.S. despite tightening investment rules, shaping the competitive balance of the global AI race.

Key points

• The round raised 106 billion yuan, more than double the original 50 billion yuan target.
• It ranks among the biggest-ever fundraising deals in China's AI sector.

Sources (original reporting)

• The Information

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