DeepSeek has appointed CITIC Securities to begin preparations for a domestic listing on Shanghai's technology-focused STAR Market, two people with direct knowledge of the discussions said. The sources, who requested anonymity because the talks are private, said the Hangzhou-based artificial intelligence developer plans to initiate the IPO process this year.
The selection of CITIC Securities - which, according to the sources, had not previously been reported in this context - signals that DeepSeek is progressing along the early stages of a mainland listing. In mainland China, companies aiming to list typically name securities firms to conduct pre-listing tutoring and other preparatory work before filing a formal application.
Key elements of any offering - including timing, the amount DeepSeek might look to raise and a target valuation - have not been settled, the people added. Neither DeepSeek nor CITIC Securities immediately responded to requests for comment.
Funding needs and competitive pressures
DeepSeek's discussions with CITIC arrive as the company seeks fresh capital to fund heavy investments in computing infrastructure, to advance model development and to bolster incentives for retaining and recruiting researchers and engineers. These financing needs come amid heightened competition between leading Chinese and U.S. AI firms for compute, data-centre capacity and talent.
In recent months the company has been the subject of large private funding activity. Reuters reported in July that DeepSeek was working on a funding round that would value the startup at 500 billion yuan ($75 billion). Separately, filings and sources indicate DeepSeek raised roughly $7.4 billion in June at a post-money valuation above $50 billion.
According to investor filings and the accounts referenced in those reports, founder Liang Wenfeng personally committed 20 billion yuan in the June round. Tencent Holdings and battery maker CATL invested as well, contributing 10 billion yuan and 5 billion yuan respectively, making them the largest external shareholders from that financing.
Context - a rush to public markets
DeepSeek's move to line up domestic underwriting advice comes as several Chinese AI developers and startups seek public capital. Earlier this year, Chinese large language model developers Z.AI and MiniMax completed Hong Kong listings. Beijing-based startup Moonshot has filed confidentially for a Hong Kong IPO, and was valued at $50 billion in a funding round, Reuters reported. Z.AI has a market capitalisation of roughly $54 billion.
The valuations of major Chinese AI startups remain substantially below those mooted for some U.S. peers. Some investors have suggested that Anthropic - the developer of Claude and Mythos - could command an IPO valuation as high as $2 trillion, while OpenAI has been discussed as potentially reaching a $1 trillion valuation in a planned offering. Those estimates reflect a sharp disparity in revenue generation between the two markets, a gap that underscores the difficulty Chinese developers face in translating competitive advances into consistent profit.
Reuters has also reported that Anthropic intends to launch its offering in mid-October and complete the listing before the U.S. midterm elections.
Talent retention
One person with knowledge of DeepSeek's thinking said founder Liang views proceeds from a public offering as a tool to strengthen incentives for key staff and researchers. The company has recently lost personnel to better-funded Chinese rivals, including ByteDance and Xiaomi, the source added.
At present, critical details about any STAR Market filing remain unresolved. The company is reportedly in preparatory discussions with CITIC, but timing and the financial terms of any potential IPO have not been finalized.
Currency reference: $1 = 6.7072 Chinese yuan renminbi.