DeepSeek to Raise $12B+ in Tencent-Backed Round, Partners with Huawei on Ascend AI Chips

DeepSeek is raising at least $12 billion in a funding round backed by Tencent, signaling major investor confidence in the Chinese AI startup. Concurrently, DeepSeek has partnered with Huawei to develop programming tools optimized for Huawei's Ascend AI chips, a move that deepens China's domestic AI ecosystem and reduces reliance on Western technology. The scale of the raise and the Huawei partnership underscore the strategic importance of AI in China's tech landscape, with potential implications for global AI competition and supply chains.