DeepSeek raises $15 billion to challenge Anthropic, OpenAI and other US AI labs

(Bloomberg) -- The Chinese AI pioneer DeepSeek has raised about 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) in its latest fundraising round, one of the country’s largest ever and a sign of the startup’s ambitions to compete globally with the likes of Anthropic PBC and OpenAI.The Hangzhou-based firm boosted its financing target at least twice as it talked with investors, from 50 billion yuan to 80 billion yuan before reaching the final tally, according to people familiar with the matter. Battery pioneer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. and WeChat-operator Tencent Holdings Ltd. were among the biggest investors in the round, said the people, asking not to be named as the details aren’t public. DeepSeek’s funding sets the stage for one of the most highly anticipated Chinese market debuts in years.