DeepSeek said to have told backers of funding pause after viral posts

DeepSeek has told prospective investors in its second fundraising round that it is suspending the deal for now, days after comments widely attributed to founder Liang Wenfeng about U.S.-Chinese AI competition went viral, people familiar with the matter said. The suspension stemmed in part from Liang's frustration over online reports about his comments to investors during his first financing deal, which closed in June and raised $7 billion for the AI lab. The authenticity of the viral posts, which concerned a transcript of a meeting Liang held with unidentified parties, has not been verified.

DeepSeek has told prospective investors in its second fundraising round that it’s suspending the deal for now, people familiar with the matter said, days after comments widely attributed to founder Liang Wenfeng about U.S.-Chinese AI competition went viral. The Chinese AI pioneer verbally informed some of its would-be backers that they wouldn’t be signing investment agreements in the coming days, as they had expected, people familiar with the matter said. DeepSeek might choose to resume the deal process at a later date, the people said, asking to remain anonymous to talk about private discussions. The suspension stemmed in part from Liang’s frustration over online reports about his comments to investors during his first financing deal, which closed in June and raised $7 billion for the AI lab, the people said. The authenticity of those posts, which concerned a transcript of a meeting Liang held with unidentified parties, haven’t been verified. Chinese media including Yicai reported this week that the billionaire founder talked about a reliance on Nvidia chips for AI development and China’s persistent lag in AI sophistication relative to the U.S.. DeepSeek didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment about the transcript or the fundraising.