DeepSeek’s revenue run rate tops $1B, The Information reports

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has seen its annualized revenue run rate surpass $1 billion, more than doubling from less than $500 million just a few months ago, according to a report from The Information on Thursday citing two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The milestone arrives as the Hangzhou-based company finalizes a fundraising round of approximately $7.5 billion.reuters+2

Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ↗ 2.92% could not immediately verify the report.reuters

Pricing Power Fuels Growth

The revenue surge has been driven by a combination of growing user adoption and a series of price increases on DeepSeek's API services. In August, DeepSeek raised API pricing for its V4-Pro and V4-Flash models by as much as 1,100% depending on the model, token type, and time of use, according to Reuters. The company also introduced peak and off-peak pricing tiers effective August 16.morphllm+2

The pricing moves marked a shift for a company that had previously undercut Western AI providers. DeepSeek's annualized revenue had been approaching $500 million as recently as July, according to a separate report from The Information at the time. Actual revenue for the first seven months of 2026 was approximately 475 million yuan, or about $70.7 million, suggesting the annualized run-rate metric reflects more recent monthly performance rather than cumulative earnings.theinformation+1

A Funding Marathon

The revenue milestone coincides with the closing stages of what has been a drawn-out fundraising process. DeepSeek began seeking outside capital earlier this year, reversing a longstanding policy of rejecting external investment. By June, the company had raised about 50 billion yuan, roughly $7.4 billion, in its maiden funding round from investors including Tencent and CATL Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, with founder Liang Wenfeng committing 20 billion yuan of his own money, according to CNBC.reuters+1

Bloomberg reported in August that DeepSeek had reopened a second funding round seeking close to $8 billion at a valuation near 500 billion yuan, or about $74 billion. The Information's latest report indicates the company is now finalizing a $7.5 billion raise.tradingview+1

What It Means for the AI Market

The revenue figure, if accurate, places DeepSeek among the fastest-scaling AI companies globally, though annualized run-rate metrics based on recent months can overstate a company's trajectory. The Newsquawk analysis accompanying the report noted that the growth being partly attributed to price increases, rather than volume alone, "implies pricing power rather than pure volume" — a distinction that "pressures the pricing assumptions embedded in Western model providers".newsquawk

DeepSeek has not publicly commented on the revenue figures or the status of its fundraising.