Open-source large models reach a valuation of hundreds of billions, and DeepSeek's move is aggressive enough; the AI landscape is about to change.

DeepSeek is currently planning its first external funding round, targeting a valuation of more than $10 billion, marking a turning point as it shifts from being driven by self-developed technology to bringing in external capital. If this is achieved, its valuation would jump from about $3.4 billion to several times higher. Rising to prominence with low-cost, high-performance open-source large models, it features training costs significantly below the industry average and performance benchmarked against leading U.S. models—driving global expansion and reshaping China’s competitive landscape in the AI field.