HANGZHOU (Reuters) – Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek has reportedly paused its second fundraising round, informing prospective investors that investment agreements will not be signed for the time being.
According to a Bloomberg News report, citing people familiar with the matter, DeepSeek verbally notified several potential investors that the fundraising process had been suspended, although it may resume at a later date.
Reuters could not independently verify the report, and DeepSeek did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside normal business hours.
The Hangzhou-based company had been preparing to launch a new fundraising round at a valuation of approximately 500 billion yuan ($74 billion) after completing its first funding round, which reportedly raised about $7.4 billion.
Bloomberg reported that the pause was partly driven by founder Liang Wenfeng's dissatisfaction over online reports regarding comments he allegedly made to investors during the company's initial fundraising discussions.
The development comes shortly after Reuters reported that DeepSeek had begun early deliberations on a potential initial public offering (IPO) on Shanghai's Nasdaq-style STAR Market.