Investing.com-- Zhipu AI- a Chinese artificial intelligence start-up backed by majors including Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700), said on Monday it had raised about $140 million in its latest funding round.
The capital raise involved several local government firms, Zhipu said in a statement on WeChat, underscoring a growing interest in Chinese AI firms after the release of DeepSeek in late-January.
Zhipu was last valued at nearly $3 billion during a December funding round that raised $410 million. The company’s latest funding round included participation from the Hangzhou Municipal Construction Investment Group, and Shangcheng Capital.
Zhipu is regarded as one of China’s “AI tigers,” a group of high-value startups seen developing advanced AI technologies in the country.
The group has come into increased focus after the release of DeepSeek, which also sparked an extended rally in Chinese technology shares.