Of Possible Interest: China and AI
"DeepSeek vies for AGI, prioritizing AI research over profits in their $10bn funding round!"
The race to AGI between the U.S. and China is one of the most pressing concerns in both Washington DC and Beijing. The Chinese government doesn’t overtly reference AGI as such, however the founder of DeepSeek doesn’t pull any punches about it according to this subscriber-only article in Bloomberg.
DeepSeek Founder Avows AGI Goal Ahead of $10 Billion Funding
By Lulu Yilun Chen and Haze Fan
DeepSeek’s senior management has told potential investors in its ongoing 70 billion yuan ($10 billion) funding round that the startup will prioritize groundbreaking AI research over short-term commercialization, people familiar with the matter said.
Founder Liang Wenfeng pledged in at least one meeting with investors he will keep developing open-source AI models while pursuing a broader goal of achieving artificial general intelligence, one of the people said. The hedge fund manager and AI pioneer made it clear the main goal is to push the boundaries of the technology rather than monetization, the person said, asking to remain anonymous to discuss private deliberations.
DeepSeek, the Chinese outfit that in 2025 upended Silicon Valley with a far cheaper AI model, has drawn strong interest from a plethora of investors. It’s in the final leg of discussions over a funding deal that may value the AI phenomenon at about $45 billion before the investment, according to people familiar with the matter. DeepSeek’s likely investors include the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, a vehicle Beijing set up to propel strategic AI projects, the people said. Tencent Holdings Ltd., IDG Capital and Monolith Capital are close to securing their participation, the people said. NetEase Inc. is also seeking to invest, one of the people said. JD.com Inc. is in talks to join the financing, another person said.
Discussions remain in flux and details from investment amounts to final participants could still change. More generally, DeepSeek’s focus on developing AI over making profits aligns with the startup’s consistent approach to the AI industry. Chinese open-source models have proliferated globally because of their broad accessibility, an approach popularized by DeepSeek and used to great effect by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and its Qwen platform.
At the same time, pressure is mounting on AI firms — including in China — to begin delivering on the bottom-line after hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in computing infrastructure. Liang’s research-first philosophy is striking at a time global peers from OpenAI to Anthropic are exploring public listings and multiple ways to generate new revenue.
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