DeepSeek Moves Toward Shanghai IPO As AI Funding Race Widens

DeepSeek has hired CITIC Securities for work toward a possible Shanghai STAR Market initial public offering, ETTech reported via Reuters, moving China’s best-known AI startup from private fundraising toward a regulated domestic listing process.

The step is still preparatory.

Two people with knowledge of the matter described the engagement, and the Hangzhou-based company aims to start the IPO process this year.

In China, companies typically appoint securities firms for pre-listing tutoring before they submit a formal mainland listing application, so CITIC’s role signals progress rather than a completed transaction.

The open questions remain material for investors.

The timing of an offering, the amount DeepSeek may try to raise and its target valuation have not been set.

DeepSeek and CITIC did not respond to requests for comment, leaving the plan dependent on a process that can change before an application reaches regulators.

Capital needs explain why the company is testing that route now.

Training and serving large language models requires computing infrastructure, data-centre capacity and engineering talent, and competition has intensified among Chinese and U.S. AI developers.

A July Reuters account put DeepSeek in talks for new financing at a 500 billion yuan, or roughly $75 billion, valuation.

The latest private financing already put large strategic backers around the company.

In June, investors supplied about $7.4 billion and pushed the post-money value beyond $50 billion.

Founder Liang Wenfeng personally committed 20 billion yuan in that round, while Tencent Holdings put in 10 billion yuan and battery maker CATL contributed 5 billion yuan, making them the largest external shareholders.

DeepSeek would not be entering the public-market race alone.

Chinese large language model developers Z.AI and MiniMax listed in Hong Kong earlier this year, while Beijing-based Moonshot has filed confidentially for a Hong Kong IPO.

Moonshot’s most recent round priced the company at $50 billion, a level below both DeepSeek and Z.AI, whose market capitalization is about $54 billion.

The valuation gap with U.S. rivals shows why a listing would carry strategic weight as well as fundraising value.

Some investors have floated potential IPO valuations of up to $2 trillion for Anthropic and up to $1 trillion for OpenAI, far above Chinese peers.

That difference points to a revenue challenge for Chinese AI companies even as their models become more competitive.

For DeepSeek, proceeds would also address a labor problem.

Liang hopes IPO funding can support stronger incentives for key staff and researchers after departures to larger rivals such as ByteDance and Xiaomi.

The unresolved valuation, raise size and listing timetable will determine how much room the company has to convert market interest into operating capacity.