The AI race is ushering in another iconic moment.
On July 14th, according to Bloomberg, DeepSeek has started preparing for its initial public offering (IPO) and may submit its listing application as early as this year. DeepSeek is collaborating with accounting firms and expects to complete its financial report by the end of December this year, which is a necessary preparation for submitting its IPO application. The company plans to officially submit its listing application by the end of this year or early 2027.
Meanwhile, there are reports that DeepSeek is considering opening a new round of funding. According to insiders, DeepSeek has already started contacting potential investors before the IPO, with a target pre investment valuation of at least 480 billion yuan (approximately 71 billion US dollars), and plans to raise at least another 10 billion yuan, with the final amount potentially increasing significantly depending on investor participation. The new round of financing is only about six weeks away from its first round of external financing completed at the end of May, with a total amount of about 7 billion US dollars and a post investment valuation of about 52 billion US dollars. Investors include Tencent Holdings and CATL.
According to insiders, DeepSeek's rapid financing pace is mainly due to market expectations that its capital expenditures will increase significantly, including the construction of its own data centers, the procurement of more AI chips, and the layout of AI intelligent agents.
According to sources familiar with the matter, DeepSeek's intensive financing is primarily aimed at accelerating the expansion of its computing infrastructure. In June of this year, DeepSeek announced its recruitment plan for the IDC data center team on its official website. The job description shows that the company is working on building a GW level computing power park, with DeepSeek's own IDC data center team responsible for planning and design, technology research and development, and operational management. Meanwhile, DeepSeek is also rumored to be advancing related work on self-developed AI inference chips. On July 7th, according to Reuters, DeepSeek had initiated work on self-developed chips a year ago and is currently in contact with external partners, as well as discussing with chip design companies, wafer foundries, and storage companies.
The acceleration of capital operations, coupled with the expansion of infrastructure, directly boosted the personal wealth of founder Liang Wenfeng.
According to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index (as of July 14, 2026), DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng's net worth soared by $19.3 billion, reaching $36 billion (note: the current exchange rate is about 244.378 billion yuan), becoming the new richest person in the global AI company field (excluding large groups with AI businesses).
At present, the IPO schedule and financing plan are still under discussion, and the final execution will depend on the market environment and the company's performance. DeepSeek has not yet made a public response to the aforementioned report.
