A leaked transcript has done what chip sanctions could not: bring DeepSeek's fundraising to a halt. The Hangzhou AI lab has told prospective investors in its second fundraising round that it is suspending the deal, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Saturday, days after remarks attributed to founder Liang Wenfeng about US-China AI competition circulated widely online.  Would-be backers were verbally informed they would not be signing investment agreements in the coming days as expected, though the company may resume the process later.  The money involved is not small. DeepSeek was seeking at least 10 billion yuan in follow-on capital at a pre-money valuation (the company's worth before new money lands) of at least 480 billion yuan — roughly $74 billion, up from about $50 billion in its first round, Bloomberg reported . That maiden round closed in June, raised around $7 billion, and drew in Tencent and battery giant CATL. What appears to have triggered the pause is a …
