DeepSeek Halts 2nd Funding Round as Viral Liang Leak Jolts $7 Billion AI Startup
Updated
Updated · Gizmodo · Jul 25
DeepSeek Halts 2nd Funding Round as Viral Liang Leak Jolts $7 Billion AI Startup
3 articles · Updated · Gizmodo · Jul 25
Summary
DeepSeek has reportedly stopped short of signing papers for its second fundraising round, even though backers were ready, and may revisit the deal later.
Bloomberg linked the pause to viral leaked remarks attributed to CEO Liang Wenfeng, whose comments to investors last month reportedly left him frustrated by the online backlash.
The unverified transcript suggested Liang said China still trails the US in AI because of limited compute and Nvidia dependence, while arguing Huawei-led workarounds could break that bottleneck within about a year.
The setback hits an AI company known for low-cost, efficient models that has already completed a $7 billion first financing and reportedly started preparing for an IPO before year-end.