Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek is reportedly in discussions to raise around $1.5 billion in fresh funding, at a valuation said to be as high as $71 billion.

The funding round is widely viewed as a precursor to an initial public offering, which the large language model developer is reportedly targeting for 2027.

Industry watchers say the planned listing reflects DeepSeek’s ambition to tap deeper into public capital markets as it looks to cement its position among the world’s leading AI developers.

The company’s rapid growth has drawn significant investor interest in recent months, with its technology already deployed across a range of commercial applications.

Source: techcrunch.com