Report says DeepSeek is nearing at least an RMB 80B funding round backed by Tencent and CATL; the companies have not confirmed it

What changed

Reuters reported on October 6, citing Bloomberg, that DeepSeek is close to securing at least RMB 80 billion (about $11.9 billion) in a funding round, with Tencent and CATL reported among the largest participants; the original target was said to be around RMB 50 billion and the final amount could approach RMB 100 billion. This is not an official DeepSeek financing announcement: Reuters explicitly said it could not independently verify the report and DeepSeek, Tencent and CATL had not immediately responded. This entry therefore records it as a reported funding round, not confirmed financing.