Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is reportedly preparing for a possible initial public offering (IPO) in 2027 while also seeking another major private funding round.
The company could file for an IPO as early as the end of 2026, with a public-market debut expected in 2027. DeepSeek is also said to be looking to raise around $1.5 billion in fresh funding at a valuation of about $71 billion.
The latest fundraising discussions come only about a month after DeepSeek completed its first outside funding round.
DeepSeek previously raised around $7 billion at a post-money valuation of about $52 billion. The new talks could lift the company’s valuation to roughly $71 billion.
DeepSeek is preparing for a Shanghai IPO as early as the second quarter of 2027. The plan remains subject to regulatory approval and could still change.
DeepSeek’s earlier funding round included several major Chinese investors.
Reports have named Tencent, CATL, JD.com, NetEase, venture capital firms, and a state-backed AI fund among the participants. Beijing’s National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund is among DeepSeek’s backers as well.
The fresh capital is expected to support DeepSeek’s AI infrastructure, chip supply, data-centre expansion, and research teams as competition with US AI companies continues to intensify.
DeepSeek’s IPO plans and new fundraising round remain unconfirmed by the company.
Private-market valuations can change quickly, and there is no guarantee that DeepSeek will raise the full amount or list at the expected time. The IPO would also depend on Chinese regulators and wider market conditions.
Still, the reports show how quickly DeepSeek has become one of China’s most valuable AI startups. After raising its first outside funding only recently, the company is already being discussed as a potential public-market contender with a valuation above $70 billion.
DeepSeek was founded in 2023 and became globally known in early 2025 after releasing AI models that attracted attention for their performance and lower reported operating costs.
Its V3 and R1 models were closely watched by Silicon Valley and helped position the company as China’s leading open-source AI model developer. DeepSeek’s rise forced investors to reconsider assumptions about how much spending is needed to compete in advanced AI.
The company has continued to show that Chinese open-source models can compete closely with leading US AI labs, despite restrictions on China’s access to advanced Nvidia chips.
DeepSeek is also gaining traction among enterprise users.
Vercel’s July AI Gateway production index, based on June 2026 usage, showed that DeepSeek accounted for 22.6% of token volume, placing it third and less than two percentage points behind Google. Anthropic held 32% of token volume and 61% of gateway spend.
Vercel said open-weight models now account for 29% of token volume on its AI Gateway, up from 11% in April, while representing less than 4% of total spend. This suggests that lower-cost open models are becoming more common in production workloads.
DeepSeek’s cloud service reportedly runs on chips made by Huawei Technologies.
Chinese technology companies have been trying to secure Huawei Ascend chips after DeepSeek’s V4 launch, while DeepSeek itself said V4-Pro pricing could fall once Huawei Ascend 950 supernodes ship at scale.
The use of domestic chips is important because US export controls have limited Chinese companies’ access to advanced Nvidia hardware. DeepSeek is also reportedly developing its own AI chips to reduce dependence on outside suppliers.
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