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Chinese AI company DeepSeek made globular newspaper headline forhelping sparka massive sell - off in U.S. tech stocks on Monday , withNvidia droppingalmost 20 % .
In China , the ballyhoo around DeepSeek has sent part of some public company with supposed link to it hang glide . The trouble : There ’s no evidence these caller ever endue in or cooperated with DeepSeek to begin with .
Rumored DeepSeek investorsHuajin CapitalandZhejiang Orientpopped by 10 % on Monday , while a research caller calledSublime China Informationjumped 20 % for supposedly get together with DeepSeek on its AI models . ( Those are the legal maximum casual gains in Taiwanese exchanges . )
However , Sublime China Information deny cooperating with DeepSeek in adisclosure , and Huajin Capitaldeniedto a Formosan clientele news show outlet that it ever discover a DeepSeek investing . Investment company Zhejiang Orient has n’t responded to a petition for comment from TechCrunch , but there ’s no public evidence that they ’re an investor in DeepSeek , either .
The rumor appear to have originated from unsubstantiated Chineselists — which have go viral — of various publicly traded companies supposedly tied to DeepSeek .
DeepSeek , a private ship’s company , has never publically announced any VC investment , while Chinese corporaterecordsmake no mention of VC firms on DeepSeek ’s roof tabular array . Instead , itsfounder Liang Wenfengis listed as the beneficial possessor of all three entities that form DeepSeek . DeepSeek is fund by the quant firm High - Flyer ( of which Wenfeng is CEO ) and has no plan to fundraise , WenfengtoldChinese media outlet wave last year .
In a 2023interviewwith the same exit , Wenfeng read he had discussion with different financing source , but VCs “ seemed hesitating ” about investing in a inquiry - focused company , prioritize commercialisation instead .
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DeepSeek did not respond to TechCrunch ’s scuttlebutt request .
