DeepSeek reportedly in early talks for a new round at a $71 billion valuation

DeepSeek, the Chinese AI lab whose low-cost models jolted the industry in early 2025, is reportedly in early talks with investors for a new funding round. The round would value it at about $71 billion before the money comes in. The lab has not confirmed the discussions.

If the talks firm up, the pre-money valuation would jump roughly 40% from the about $50 billion DeepSeek reached only weeks earlier. That first outside round closed in early June 2026, raising about $7 billion from backers including Tencent Holdings and battery maker CATL.

A repricing this fast is striking. It would mean DeepSeek’s paper value grew by more than $20 billion in under two months without, as far as is public, a major new product to justify it, a sign of how hard investors are chasing exposure to a Chinese lab seen as the leading domestic answer to OpenAI and Google.

The details are thin and unconfirmed. The reported $71 billion figure is a target DeepSeek and prospective investors are said to be discussing, not a closed valuation, and terms in early-stage talks routinely shift or collapse. DeepSeek has not commented, and it remains unclear which investors are at the table this time or how much the lab aims to raise. Whether the round closes anywhere near $71 billion will test how much of the DeepSeek enthusiasm survives contact with an actual term sheet.