Bloomberg: DeepSeek nears an 80 billion yuan round

DeepSeek is close to raising at least 80 billion yuan, with Tencent and CATL among the largest commitments, ahead of an initial public offering in early 2027, according to a Bloomberg account published Tuesday and citing people familiar with the matter. That is not a company filing.

CNBC-TV18 ran the story under a Bloomberg byline. The Straits Times carried the same narrative and ended it with a Bloomberg credit. Bloomberg’s own article page did not open, so this brief uses that syndicated text.

What the copy says

The CNBC-TV18 text says DeepSeek is close to securing at least 80 billion yuan, “blowing past its own capital-raising target,” ahead of “a landmark initial public offering in early 2027.” Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and Tencent have “committed among the largest amounts in the current financing, which closes soon.” DeepSeek “initially sought about 50 billion yuan,” with interest higher “after the successful release of its latest AI model,” which the copy calls the V4 Flash. “Based on term sheets signed, the final tally could approach 100 billion yuan.” The “originally targeted” valuation was “about 500 billion yuan.” “While discussions around the current deal near an end, details may still change in final talks.”

The copy attributes those points to people familiar, unnamed because the details are not public. The V4 Flash name is Bloomberg’s.

On the record, a CATL representative declined to comment, Tencent had no immediate comment, and DeepSeek did not respond to an email during a Chinese public holiday. The holiday is not named.

The same copy says DeepSeek plans to deploy at least 160,000 of Huawei’s top accelerators at a data centre it is building in Inner Mongolia, which “may create one of the largest known clusters of Huawei AI chips.” That plan is Bloomberg’s reporting.

Headlines use different dollars

CNBC-TV18’s headline says “raise $12 billion.” Its body prints 80 billion yuan and no dollar conversion. CNA writes “at least 80 billion yuan ($11.93 billion),” says “Reuters could not immediately verify the report,” and gives “$1 = 6.7045 Chinese yuan.” CNA’s headline still says “at least $12 billion.”

The Straits Times headline is “DeepSeek set to raise at least $15 billion in Tencent-backed funding.” The body says “at least 80 billion yuan (S$15 billion).” The S is Singapore dollars. The headline drops it. The body pairs S$15 billion with the same 80 billion yuan. It does not print a separate US-dollar sum.

Practical takeaway

The round, as Bloomberg tells it through unnamed people, is at least 80 billion yuan, with Tencent and CATL among the largest commitments, a close soon, terms that may still change, and an IPO aimed at early 2027. Reuters, via CNA, said it could not verify that. The $12 billion headlines and the Straits Times “$15 billion” headline are different labels on the yuan figure in the bodies.