DeepSeek could hit $45B valuation from its first investment round

TL;DR

The Chinese AI lab came to prominence in early 2025 after launching a large language model that trained on a fraction of the compute power and at a fraction of the cost of the big U. S. models like those from OpenAI and Anthropic. The Chinese AI lab came to prominence in early 2025 after launching a large language model that trained on a fraction of the compute power and at a fraction of the cost of the big U.

Nauti's Take

A $45B valuation proves training efficiency is a real moat — DeepSeek shows you don't need hyperscaler budgets to compete. Flip side: the geopolitics gets hotter, with US export controls and potential investment bans squeezing both investors and customers.

Anyone using Chinese open-source models in production should sort out hosting, data and compliance questions early, not after someone asks.

Summary

The Chinese AI lab came to prominence in early 2025 after launching a large language model that trained on a fraction of the compute power and at a fraction of the cost of the big U. S.

models like those from OpenAI and Anthropic. The Chinese AI lab came to prominence in early 2025 after launching a large language model that trained on a fraction of the compute power and at a fraction of the cost of the big U.

S. models like those from OpenAI and Anthropic.

Sources