DeepSeek Raises $15B to Challenge OpenAI and Anthropic
By Sidra Salman · October 22, 2026 DeepSeek just pulled off the biggest raise of its young life. Bloomberg News reported Thursday that the Hangzhou AI lab has raised about 100 billion yuan — roughly $15 billion — in its latest funding round, which would make it one of China's largest startup fundraising rounds ever. Battery giant CATL and WeChat operator Tencent were among the biggest investors, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the details aren't public. One caveat before we go further: Reuters redistributed the report but said it could not independently verify it, and DeepSeek, Tencent, and CATL all declined to comment — so treat the number as reported , not confirmed. Still, Bloomberg flagged back on October 6 that the tally could approach 100 billion yuan, and today's figure matches that almost exactly. Inside the DeepSeek $15B raise: what Bloomberg reported The way the round came together tells its own ...