DeepSeek and Alibaba Financing Negotiations Break Down Over Control and Ecosystem Disputes

According to monitoring by Dongcha Beating, the financing negotiations between DeepSeek and Alibaba have collapsed. In April, DeepSeek initiated a massive financing round, attracting participation from major companies like Tencent and Alibaba, but the two sides ultimately failed to reach an agreement. The core conflict lies in Alibaba’s desire to strengthen its AI ecosystem through investment (deep integration of its business units such as Tongyi and Qianwen with products like Taobao and Amap), while DeepSeek, as an independent model company, insists on minimizing binding terms and maintaining technological independence, unwilling to accept excessive ecosystem integration. DeepSeek’s founder, Liang Wenfeng, has long rejected external equity financing; although he opened the door for the first time this round, his bottom line remains unchanged, prioritizing offers with the ‘least additional conditions.’ DeepSeek’s current financing round is valued at approximately 300 billion RMB (about 45 billion USD), with the focus on supplementing computing power and R&D funding, while also providing a market valuation anchor for employees to retain talent. Tencent had proposed to acquire up to 20% of the shares, but this was politely declined by DeepSeek due to its reluctance to relinquish a significant portion of control. Ultimately, the China National Investment Fund may lead the investment, with relatively loose terms that align more closely with DeepSeek’s technological idealism.