DeepSeek is reportedly on track to raise at least 80 billion yuan ($12 billion) in its latest pre-IPO funding round, far exceeding its initial 50 billion yuan target. The round has attracted major investors including Tencent Holdings, the operator of WeChat, and battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), with strong demand potentially pushing the final raise closer to 100 billion yuan ($15 billion).
The funding surge follows the launch of DeepSeek’s V4 Flash AI model and is expected to fuel a major expansion of the company’s computing infrastructure. DeepSeek plans to deploy at least 160,000 of Huawei Technologies’ advanced AI accelerators at a new data centre in Inner Mongolia as it scales its AI capabilities and competes more aggressively with both Chinese and international rivals.
Bloomberg: DeepSeek is close to raising at least $12B, well above its own fundraising target at a posssible $71B valuation.
Demand surged after its V4 Flash model launched, and signed term sheets could lift the final total to nearly $15B
And the lab needs the money for hardware, including at least 160,000 Huawei Ascend 950DT accelerators planned for a data center in Inner Mongolia.
Tencent Holdings and battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. are again among the biggest backers.
Tencent Holdings and battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. are again among the biggest backers.
They committed roughly $1.5B and $740M in DeepSeek’s first outside round, which valued the lab at about $52B after the money came in.
Founder Liang Wenfeng put about $3B of his own money into that round.
— Rohan Paul (@rohanpaul_ai) October 6, 2026
Once the funding is completed, DeepSeek is expected to restructure its corporate structure ahead of a potential early-2027 IPO, reportedly targeting Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR Market. The move comes as China’s AI sector enters a new phase of intense competition, with rival Moonshot AI also preparing for a potential first-quarter 2027 Hong Kong listing at a valuation of around $50 billion.
Will AI funding become a signal for crypto markets?
The DeepSeek raise is also being interpreted as an early indicator for the AI infrastructure trade, with investors watching whether private AI capital translates into sustained demand for GPUs and semiconductor suppliers. As Noon Strategy noted, large funding rounds can provide a forward read on AI capital expenditure, particularly for companies exposed to the GPU supply chain. The most important question, however, is whether the spending can generate enough revenue and productivity gains to support increasingly aggressive private-market valuations.
DeepSeek is close to securing at least $12 billion in its latest round of funding, blowing past its own capital-raising target ahead of a landmark IPO in early 2027 https://t.co/2oHD36SJmX
— Bloomberg (@business) October 6, 2026
For crypto investors, the debate is moving from AI hype to capital rotation. MANDOCT argued that the AI race is increasingly a contest for capital, computing capacity, customers and long-term execution, not model performance alone. This is important for crypto because the same risk appetite supporting large AI financings can influence flows into technology-linked equities, AI tokens and other high-beta assets. At the same time, a reversal in sentiment could pressure them just as quickly.
Trading-focused users are already drawing a more direct connection between AI fundraising and Bitcoin’s price action. PradoTonipe10 pointed to billions flowing into DeepSeek and OpenAI while Bitcoin approached $87,000, framing the moves as evidence that large pools of capital may be positioning ahead of the broader market. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a global AI framework centred on open-source technology, positioning China as an alternative to the United States in shaping the future of AI governance
Could the AI funding boom spill into crypto?
The strongest connection between AI and crypto is seen through decentralized GPU networks, as crypto projects look to put unused computing power to work for AI workloads. For instance, Aethir’s decentralized GPU network connects AI developers with distributed computing capacity, and in September 2026 it announced a move into physical AI data centres with up to 20 MW of capacity, targeting NVIDIA B300 and GB300 clusters.
The connection is also becoming visible in Bitcoin mining infrastructure. CoinShares reported that publicly listed Bitcoin miners had announced more than $70 billion in cumulative AI/HPC contracts, with some operators shifting substantial capacity away from Bitcoin mining toward AI data centres. It estimates AI could account for as much as 70% of revenue for listed miners by the end of 2026, compared with roughly 30% currently.
This gives crypto investors another way to tap into the AI infrastructure boom, not just through AI tokens, but through companies and protocols providing GPUs, data centres, and computing capacity.
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