DeepSeek reportedly nears $12B+ funding round, Tencent and CATL among backers

Multiple posts on October 13, 2026, report that Chinese AI lab DeepSeek is close to completing a major funding round, with amounts cited between 80 billion and 100 billion yuan (approximately $12 billion to $15 billion). A post by user ku00jr notes that the reported funding amount has increased from 50 billion yuan to about 100 billion yuan, with a pre-money valuation still around 500 billion yuan, and mentions that CATL is said to be adding more investment. Another post from OpenBuildxyz, part of a weekly recap, states DeepSeek is reportedly set to raise more than 80 billion yuan, potentially reaching 100 billion yuan, with Tencent and CATL among expected backers, targeting a valuation of around 500 billion yuan as it prepares for a possible domestic IPO. A separate post by BreakingAlert_ reports that DeepSeek will complete 100 billion yuan in funding and is also considering entering the embodied intelligence field, with founder Liang Wenfeng in discussions with related entrepreneurs. These reports are attributed to various sources and have not been independently confirmed.