Tencent, Alibaba in talks to invest in DeepSeek at over $20 billion valuation, The Information reports

Tencent, Alibaba in talks to invest in DeepSeek at over $20 billion valuation, The Information reports Reuters Wed, April 22, 2026 at 7:33 AM EDT 1 min read BABA 0700.HK April 22 (Reuters) - Chinese tech giants Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group are in discussions to invest in artificial intelligence ‌startup DeepSeek, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing four people ‌with knowledge of the talks. Owned by Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer Capital Management, DeepSeek is ​now aiming to raise funding at a valuation exceeding $20 billion, as its initial discussions with prospective investors sparked immense interest, the report said, citing one of the people. More from Yahoo Scout Alibaba, Tencent and DeepSeek did not immediately respond ‌to requests for comment. ⁠Reuters could not independently verify the report. U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba rose 1.3% in premarket trading. The Information reported ⁠on Friday that DeepSeek started discussions to raise outside capital for the first time, with a target to raise at least $300 million at a ​valuation of ​at least $10 billion. This potential fundraise ​underscores the intense capital required ‌to develop and operate cutting-edge AI models, especially with the growing complexity of advanced reasoning and autonomous agentic bots. The talks are still underway and both the valuation and the amount of capital to be raised could still change, according to the report. As it is a ‌Chinese startup, some U.S. venture capitalists ​might h…