{
  "id": 6420469,
  "title": "Chinese AI firm DeepSeek taps underwriters including Citic Securities for IPO: sources",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/chinese-ai-firm-deepseek-taps-underwriters-including-citic-securities",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-09T12:34:42.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SCMP Business",
    "slug": "scmp-business",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3366948/chinese-ai-firm-deepseek-taps-underwriters-including-citic-securities-ipo-sources"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has enlisted underwriters, including Citic Securities, as it prepares to go public in China, sources reveal. The Hangzhou-based firm intends to begin the IPO process this year and list its stocks on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Nasdaq-like Star market, according to two individuals familiar with the matter. The details surrounding the IPO remain private, with both DeepSeek and Citic Securities declining to comment on the record. Meanwhile, the company is in the final stages of a pre-IPO financing round that could potentially value it at around 500 billion yuan (US$74 billion) before investment. DeepSeek's quest for an IPO is happening concurrently with that of its rival, Beijing-based Moonshot AI, which has just filed a Hong Kong IPO prospectus for early next year. Moonshot, known for its Kimi K3 model series, is also raising a final round of financing that could value the firm at approximately US$50 billion, with plans to raise between US$3 billion and US$5 billion, as reported by Bloomberg based on sources. Both DeepSeek and Moonshot are part of a broader trend of AI firms seeking public market capital to fuel their growth, following the lead of other Chinese AI developers such as Beijing-based Z.ai (also known as Zhipu) and Shanghai-based MiniMax. The latter two went public in Hong Kong earlier this year and are among the first pure-play AI model developers to list on public stock exchanges, although their valuations remain significantly lower than their U.S. counterparts. OpenAI and Anthropic are projected to be valued at US$1 trillion and US$2 trillion, respectively, when they eventually go public, while Z.ai and MiniMax's current market capitalization is around HK$425 billion (US$54 billion) and HK$112 billion, respectively, as of market close on Wednesday. DeepSeek's fundraising efforts are accompanied by a significant hiring and infrastructure expansion drive. The company announced on Tuesday an \"unprecedented\" recruitment campaign to revamp its back-end systems, which have been under immense strain due to a surge in user demand. Additionally, DeepSeek is in discussions with local data centers to bolster its computing capacity.",
  "summary": "Chinese frontier artificial intelligence lab DeepSeek has hired underwriters including Citic Securities in preparation for a domestic initial public offering (IPO), according to two people familiar with the matter. Citic Securities was one of the four underwriters tapped by the Hangzhou-based firm, which aims to begin the IPO process this year to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Nasdaq-like…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Economic Times Tech",
        "title": "China's DeepSeek taps CITIC Securities for domestic IPO",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/chinas-deepseek-taps-citic-securities-for-domestic-ipo",
        "published": "2026-09-09T06:16:32.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "SCMP Tech",
        "title": "Chinese AI firm DeepSeek taps underwriters including Citic Securities for IPO: sources",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/chinese-ai-firm-deepseek-taps-underwriters-including-citic-securities-6420509",
        "published": "2026-09-09T12:34:42.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}