China’s state-backed semiconductor investment vehicle has stepped in to support DeepSeek, pushing the AI startup’s valuation to an impressive $45 billion (approximately 65 trillion won). This represents more than double its previous worth.
According to Financial Times reporting on May 7th, DeepSeek’s market value has surged dramatically within just a few weeks. The company gained global attention earlier this year after launching its R1 artificial intelligence model. Initial funding discussions last month placed the company’s worth at around $20 billion, but recent developments have changed the landscape significantly.
The turning point came when China’s National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund—commonly known as the “Big Fund”—took the lead in DeepSeek’s latest financing round. Major technology corporations including Tencent are also considering participation.
Industry observers suggest the elevated valuation reflects strong confidence in DeepSeek’s expansion potential. Sources indicate that founder Liang Wenfeng may personally contribute to the investment. Currently, Liang and related entities control approximately 89.5% of the company’s equity.
The Big Fund traditionally focuses on memory chips and related materials and equipment sectors. This marks its first known investment in a large language model developer, signaling a potential shift in China’s AI strategy.
Meanwhile, Chinese semiconductor manufacturers are integrating DeepSeek’s technology into their hardware platforms. Huawei recently announced successful optimization of DeepSeek’s new V4 model on its Ascend 950PR chip platform, claiming inference performance improvements of up to 2.87 times compared to Nvidia’s China-specific H20 export chips.