The founder of Deepseek Liang Wenfeng is not in a hurry to get investment from strangers, WSJ referenced Monday.
Deepseek is one of the hottest new AIs in the world right now, as the Chinese company AI took Silicon Valley from the storm with its latest model earlier this year.
Unlike Deepseeek’s counterparts of the AI model provider, who regularly announces the large round -filled investors, Liang has not announced any rally of funds, despite the fact that many VC interests. Rumors of its supposed investors have still supplied (unfounded) rallies in some Chinese stocks.
The founder of Deepseek does not want to lose control
An analysis of the Chinese corporate files made by TechCrunch shows that Deepseek belongs to Liang. The rest of the start belongs to people associated with the hedge fund of Liang, High-Flyer.
This means that unlike most newly established businesses, which require external capital and thus used at least for some external influence, Deepseek is essentially a person’s show. And Liang does not have the highest estimate of VCS views.
When Liang was trying to raise funds in the past, it was postponed by VCS’s focus on the rapid creation of AI as opposed to fundamental research, he told the An interview of 2023 with Chinese media.
So a big reason why Liang has not said yes to investors who knock on his door is that he does not want to share control of his company, the WSJ said.
Deepseek has not required external funding – yet
Most of the newly established businesses need capital from investors from the beginning. But Deepseek is a unique beast. Liang was able to fund Deepseek through the profits of the high-flyer, reducing his need for external investment.
“Money was never the problem for us. The bans on advanced chips are the problem,” Liang said in 2023.
Investors could deepen the concerns of trust and privacy
As a Chinese company, Deepseek operates by strict Chinese laws that provide the government widespread access to its data.
Concerns about this have caused Deepseek prohibitions from a growing number of governments and even some private companies.
These bans could worsen if Deepseek is funded by a Chinese investor facing similar issues.
The US government has a history of sanctions of Chinese technology companies that says it is close to the Chinese government, such as the Huawei telecommunications giant and the popular drone DJI manufacturer.
That has not stopped some Chinese state entities to approach Deepseek for investment, information referencedAlthough there is no indication that Deepseek has accepted anyone.
Because all this could change
This does not mean that Deepseek will never increase external capital.
Earlier this month, Deepseek announced for the first time a (largely theoretical) profit margin, signaling a shift to revenue – something VCS value, but that Liang previously rejected.
To keep up with other heavy heavyweight AI, Deepseek will also need access to more and better AI brands – the biggest congestion for its growth, Liang said in 2023. These chips are expensive and limited to China due to export US controls.
Deepseek’s ability to be self -financing can also fade. While High-Flyer has been doing well in the past, some of its flagship funds have been undervalued by 2022, WSJ said.
It also does not help that the Chinese government was struggling in quantitative funds such as high-flyer from 2024.
While a few specific names are released, Deepseek has already attracted interest from Tencent and Alibaba, according to multiple news reports.
Deepseek did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
