DeepSeek founder declares AGI as the goal as $10bn funding round advances

This article was published on May 22, 2026 Liang Wenfeng tells prospective investors the Hangzhou lab will prioritise frontier research over revenue, in its first-ever external raise. DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng has told prospective investors in the company’s first outside funding round that the lab intends to pursue artificial general intelligence as a primary goal, and will keep releasing open-source models rather than chase short-term commercialisation. Bloomberg reported the messaging on Friday, in coverage of an ongoing 70 billion yuan (roughly $10bn) raise. That figure represents the valuation DeepSeek is reportedly targeting, rather than the cheque size. The startup is seeking at least $300m in external capital in this round, according to. The Information has separately written that the longer-term ambition could reach $7bn or more as the lab moves toward recurring revenue. The current round is the first time Liang has accepted outside money. That fact is most of the news. DeepSeek had until now been funded entirely out of High-Flyer Quant, the quantitative trading firm Liang founded and which still effectively backs the lab. Liang has previously framed the absence of out