Three Chinese AI companies raise huge sums and set their sights on public markets

Chinese AI companies are once again drawing big money from investors. That includes DeepSeek, Moonshot AI and Manus. The details on the first two come from Bloomberg and the Chinese magazine Caijing via other outlets, and are partly based on anonymous sources.

DeepSeek is close to $12 billion

According to Bloomberg, as relayed by TechNode, DeepSeek is close to securing at least 80 billion yuan, or about $12 billion, in its second external funding round. With signed draft agreements, known as term sheets, the amount could reach nearly 100 billion yuan. The company originally aimed for 50 billion yuan, but investor interest has pushed commitments past that target.

Tencent and battery maker CATL are among the largest investors. The first round in June 2026 was 50 billion yuan, about $7.4 billion. According to Caijing, citing anonymous sources, the pre-money valuation in the second round was about 500 billion yuan.

DeepSeek is expected to restructure after the round and move toward an IPO in early 2027. The terms could still change, and DeepSeek did not respond to Bloomberg's request for comment.

Moonshot AI: The Kimi company is growing fast

According to Bloomberg via CTech, Moonshot AI, the company behind the Kimi chatbot, has closed a private round valuing it at about $50 billion. Earlier this summer, its valuation was $31.5 billion. The company's annual recurring revenue has risen from about $300 million in June to about $1 billion and is expected to reach $2 billion in December.

According to Bloomberg, Moonshot is preparing an IPO in Hong Kong as early as the first quarter of 2027 and has reportedly already submitted a confidential filing. The company has not committed to a final timeline, so it could be postponed or changed.

Manus after the split with Meta

Manus' parent company, Butterfly Effect, announced in a WeChat post that it has raised more than $500 million, TechCrunch reports. It is the first round since the split with Meta. Boyu Capital and IDG Capital led the round, and Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund participated.

Meta's acquisition, worth more than $2 billion, was announced in December 2025 but blocked by Chinese authorities in April 2026. Manus resumed independent operations in August. According to reports, the company is considering an IPO in Hong Kong and has launched Manus 2.0. A valuation of about $4 billion was reported earlier, but has not been confirmed in this round.