Artificial intelligence companies are continuing to pursue multibillion-dollar funding rounds and stock market listings, as investors continue to pour capital into the race to develop more powerful models as the race between U.S. and China continues.
China’s DeepSeek is nearing a funding round of at least $12 billion, backed by Tencent and battery maker CATL, ahead of a planned IPO in early 2027, according to a report by Bloomerg. Demand could push the raise to around $15 billion, exceeding its initial target.
The financing follows the release of DeepSeek’s V4 Flash model, which strengthened its competitiveness against OpenAI and Anthropic on cost and performance.
Moonshot AI, the company behind the Kimi chatbot, has completed its final private funding round at a $50 billion valuation meanwhile. It is targeting a Hong Kong IPO in the first quarter of 2027 that could raise up to $5 billion. Annual recurring revenue is expected to reach $2 billion by December, double its current level.