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Exclusive-China's DeepSeek taps CITIC Securities for domestic IPO, sources say

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek has tapped CITIC Securities to prepare for an initial public offering on Shanghai's tech-focused STAR Market, two people with knowledge of the matter ‌said.

The Hangzhou-based company aims to begin the IPO process this year, the people said, speaking on condition ‌of anonymity because the discussions are private.

DeepSeek's engagement of CITIC, which has not been reported so far, is an indication that the startup is ​moving along in its IPO plan. Companies seeking a mainland China listing typically appoint securities firms to conduct pre-listing tutoring before submitting an application.

The timing of a potential offering, the amount DeepSeek could seek to raise and its target valuation have not been determined, the people said.

DeepSeek and CITIC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The discussions come as DeepSeek seeks ‌fresh capital to fund computing infrastructure, model ⁠development and talent retention and recruitment, amid intensifying competition among leading Chinese and U.S. AI firms.

DeepSeek is in the midst of a funding round that would value it at 500 billion ⁠yuan ($75 billion), Reuters reported in July.

The startup raised about $7.4 billion in June at a post-money valuation of over $50 billion, according to sources and filings from investors.

In the June round, DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng personally committed 20 billion yuan, while Tencent Holdings and battery ​company ​CATL chipped in 10 billion yuan and 5 billion yuan, respectively, ​to become the largest external shareholders, Reuters reported ‌at the time.

CHINESE AND U.S. AI FIRMS RUSH TO LIST

DeepSeek's IPO push comes as rivals at home and abroad are rushing to the public markets for funding amid rising costs of competing in AI, which requires large amounts of computing power, data-centre capacity and engineering talent.

Chinese large language model developers Z.AI and MiniMax both went public in Hong Kong earlier this year.

And Beijing-based startup Moonshot has filed confidentially for a Hong Kong IPO, Reuters reported earlier this month.

It was ‌valued at $50 billion in a funding round, below DeepSeek and Z.AI, ​which has a market capitalisation of about $54 billion.

Their valuations remain far below ​those sought by U.S. rivals. Claude and Mythos ​developer Anthropic could be valued at up to $2 trillion in its IPO, some investors have said, while ‌OpenAI could be valued at up to $1 trillion ​in a planned offering.