Alibaba and Tencent Consider Investment in DeepSeek
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 2 days ago
0mins
Should l Buy BABA?
Source: seekingalpha
- Investment Talks: Alibaba and Tencent are in discussions to invest in DeepSeek at a $20 billion valuation, which could provide the necessary funds for DeepSeek to enhance its competitiveness in the AI sector.
- Fundraising Plans: DeepSeek aims to raise $300 million to support its goal of exceeding a $10 billion valuation, with the funds intended for hiring more AI experts and developing more capable models to improve its market position.
- Declining Market Share: DeepSeek's market share has rapidly declined over the past 12 months, dropping from 10% in April 2025 to 3.3% by March 2026, indicating significant challenges in the competitive chatbot market.
- Damaged Technical Reputation: Although DeepSeek's AI model launched in January 2024 claimed to be developed at a lower computational cost, its authenticity has been questioned by the tech community, potentially impacting its future fundraising and market performance.
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Analyst Views on BABA
Wall Street analysts forecast BABA stock price to rise
15 Analyst Rating
15 Buy
0 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 136.420
Low
180.00
Averages
203.09
High
230.00
Current: 136.420
Low
180.00
Averages
203.09
High
230.00
About BABA
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is an investment holding company mainly engaged in the provision of technology infrastructure and marketing platforms. The Company operates its business through four segments. The Alibaba China E-commerce Group segment is mainly engaged in E-commerce business, including operating Tmall Supermarket and Tmall Global, providing customer management services, product sales, as well as logistics services. It also operates quick commerce business such as Taobao Instant Commerce and Ele.me, as well as the China commerce wholesale business through 1688.com. The Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group segment is mainly engaged in international commerce retail and wholesale business, operating platforms such as AliExpress, Trendyol, Lazada and Alibaba.com. The Cloud Intelligence Group segment mainly provides public and non-public cloud services. The Other segments primarily include the operations of Freshippo, Cainiao, Alibaba Health and other business.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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- Impact of R1 Model: The earlier R1 reasoning model disrupted global markets with its low cost and strong performance, despite being developed at a fraction of the cost of U.S. rivals, showcasing DeepSeek's competitive edge.
- Intensified Domestic Competition: With Chinese companies like Alibaba and ByteDance also launching new models this year, DeepSeek faces increasing market competition, forcing a reassessment of global AI spending strategies.
- Open Source Advantage: Similar to the previous V3 model, the V4 model is open source, allowing developers to download the code and run it locally, further promoting the technology's accessibility and application.
See More
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- Technical Collaboration: Qwen will operate on Nvidia's automotive chip system, ensuring functionality even with limited network connectivity, showcasing Alibaba's technological prowess in the smart vehicle sector.
- Market Competition Strategy: As the electric vehicle market slows, automakers are attracting consumers by integrating advanced in-car software and services, and Alibaba's technology integration will help its partners stand out in the competitive landscape.
See More
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- Technical Edge: V4 demonstrates strong performance in agent-based tasks, knowledge processing, and inference, particularly against domestic competitors, further solidifying DeepSeek's position in China's AI market.
- Open Source Strategy: Similar to the previous V3 model, V4 is open source, enabling developers to download the code and run it locally, a strategy that helps attract more developers to participate.
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See More
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- Smart Car Service Upgrade: Alibaba announced at the Beijing Auto Show that its Qwen AI model will be integrated into vehicles from multiple automakers, including BYD, enabling services like food delivery and hotel bookings via voice commands, thereby enhancing user experience and market competitiveness.
- Technical Support and Network Adaptability: The system is designed to run on Nvidia's automotive chip system and functions even with limited network connectivity, combining on-device processing with cloud computing to ensure smooth execution of multi-step tasks, thus enhancing the functionality of smart vehicles.
- Market Competition Context: As growth in the electric vehicle market slows, automakers increasingly rely on software features to attract consumers, and the integration of Alibaba's Qwen AI will help these companies stand out, particularly in providing differentiated in-car digital services.
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