Tencent, Alibaba in Talks to Join DeepSeek’s First Funding Round

Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. are in discussions to join a maiden round of financing for Chinese AI pioneer DeepSeek, marking a milestone for the country’s artificial intelligence sector.

Tencent has proposed the acquisition of as much as a 20% stake in the startup as part of the funding round, though DeepSeek isn’t keen on ceding such a large portion of control, a person familiar with the matter said. While talks are proceeding and nothing’s been finalized, the benchmark for a valuation is publicly traded rivals like MiniMax Group Inc. of around $40 billion, the person said, asking to remain anonymous to discuss private negotiations. Alibaba is also involved in funding talks, though it’s unclear what the e-commerce leader is proposing, the person added.