Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek is in talks with investors to raise at least US$300 million at a valuation of US$10 billion, according to a report by The Information cited by Reuters. Reuters attributed the Deepseek funding round information to two people familiar with the matter.

The potential DeepSeek funding round would mark a departure for a company that has, according to the report, previously turned down multiple offers from China’s top VC firms and technology giants. As it is a Chinese startup, the report added that US venture capitalists may be hesitant to invest in DeepSeek.

Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report, and DeepSeek did not immediately respond to its request for comment.

The Information’s sources said the move points to the capital demands of building and running frontier AI models as the industry shifts toward more advanced reasoning and agentic systems.

DeepSeek drew global attention last year when its low-cost models took the AI industry by storm, a development that sent shockwaves through stock markets and prompted a reassessment of AI spending assumptions.

Reuters reported earlier this year that the company did not show US chipmakers its flagship model for performance optimisation, and had trained one of its newest models on Nvidia’s most advanced chip despite it being banned for export to China.

China, meanwhile, has been working to ensure that local firms use domestic processors and cut its dependence on overseas technology.

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