June 29, 2026

DeepSeek’s $7.4bn raise is one symptom of China’s AI cash surge

A laptop computer sitting on top of a wooden desk
Jakub Żerdzicki / Unsplash

China’s AI sector is not short of cash. If anything, American pressure is pumping more in. DeepSeek shows the pattern best. The Hangzhou lab closed a $7.4bn round, the biggest first-time raise by a Chinese startup, at a valuation above $50bn. It had...