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DeepSeek moves to lead seed round for robot AI startup Winverse AI

Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek has agreed to lead a seed funding round for Winverse AI, a robotics startup founded by a former Tencent scientist, valuing the company at roughly $400 million.

A smartphone screen displaying the DeepSeek logo and name.
Image: @qz

DeepSeek has agreed to lead a seed funding round for Winverse AI, a stealth Chinese startup building artificial intelligence for robotics, according to reports from Techmeme citing Bloomberg and tech outlet AGTP. The seed financing amounts to tens of millions of dollars and values the young startup at approximately $400 million post-money.[2][4][1]

Winverse AI was founded by a former Tencent scientist and is only a few months old. Quartz reported that the Hangzhou-based AI lab's backing reflects a broader strategic push into embodied intelligence, signaling that DeepSeek seeks influence over smarter brains for physical robotics rather than limiting its focus to language models.[1][2][3][6]

DeepSeek intends to fund the investment by deploying capital from its own financing round of more than $12 billion, according to Bloomberg. The move highlights escalating industry interest in robotics AI and humanoid machines, which Bloomberg characterized as one of the technology sector's fastest-growing areas.[5][6]

Key facts

  • DeepSeek agreed to lead a seed funding round of tens of millions of dollars for Winverse AI.
  • The investment round values Winverse AI at approximately $400 million post-money.
  • Winverse AI is a months-old stealth Chinese robotics AI startup founded by a former Tencent scientist.
  • DeepSeek is backing the startup using capital from its own financing round of more than $12 billion.
  • The transaction marks a push by DeepSeek into embodied intelligence and robot AI, extending beyond language models.

Sources · 5 sources

  1. QU

    Quartz@qzPost on X ·

    DeepSeek is moving to lead a $400 million seed round for a Chinese robotics AI startup: The Hangzhou AI lab would back Winverse AI, a stealth startup founded by a former Tencent scientist, as part of a broader push into embodied intelligence dlvr.​it/TVtP4G https://t.co/SmRYwkwhpM

    Open source
  2. AG

    AGTP@AGTPinsightsPost on X ·

    BREAKING: DeepSeek will lead a tens-of-millions-dollar seed round for Winverse AI, a robot AI startup founded by a former Tencent scientist, valuing it at about $400 million. https://t.co/tVa3HIvUFU

    Open source
  3. QU

    Quartz@qzPost on X ·

    DeepSeek is betting big on the robots that need smarter AI brains: DeepSeek is moving to lead a $400M seed round for Winverse AI, a stealth Chinese startup focused on AI for robotics — signaling that the lab wants influence over the field, not just… dlvr.​it/TVtjfK #AI #Robotics https://t.co/vGi10XMGwe

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  4. TE

    Techmeme@TechmemePost on X ·

    Sources: DeepSeek agrees to lead robotic AI startup Winverse AI's seed funding round of tens of millions of dollars, valuing the startup at ~$400M post-money (Bloomberg) (Visit Techmeme dot com for the link and full context!)

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  5. CB

    Crypto BriefingArticle ·

    DeepSeek leads funding round valuing a Chinese robot AI startup at $400 million DeepSeek's investment signals a strategic shift towards integrating AI with robotics, potentially accelerating innovation in humanoid machines. The post DeepSeek leads funding round valuing a Chinese robot AI startup at $400 million appeared first on Crypto Briefing .

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  6. BL

    Bloomberg@businessPost on X ·

    DeepSeek aims to lead the first round of investment for a months-old startup building AI for robots, deploying capital from its own $12 billion-plus financing to help bankroll one of the tech industry’s fastest-growing fields. https://t.co/eetNWAsldO

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