Chinese AI startup DeepSeek generated about 475 million yuan ($70.7 million) in revenue in the first seven months of 2026, roughly tenfold its full-year 2025 revenue, according to reports from The Information and Bloomberg.
The Hangzhou-based company, known for its open-weight language models that briefly dethroned ChatGPT as the most-downloaded app in early 2025, is now seeking a second funding round at a valuation of approximately 500 billion yuan ($74 billion). This comes just weeks after it closed its first round exceeding 500 billion yuan at a pre-money valuation of $71 billion.
DeepSeek's net loss narrowed from 935 million yuan in full-year 2025 to 715 million yuan in the first seven months of 2026, suggesting the company is moving toward profitability even as its revenue scales dramatically.
The company has started planning for an IPO on the mainland, targeting a filing this year that would allow it to debut in 2027, according to Bloomberg. The rapid revenue growth and narrowing losses strengthen its hand in negotiations with investors.
DeepSeek's surge comes amid a broader boom in China's AI sector. The company's open-weight models have been widely adopted by developers worldwide, and its API pricing has forced competitors to cut costs. The upcoming IPO would make DeepSeek one of the most valuable AI companies to list on Chinese exchanges.
