[Insiders: CATL Plans to Participate in DeepSeek Financing] BlockBeats News, May 23 – Two insiders revealed that CATL is planning to participate in the financing activities of the domestic artificial intelligence company DeepSeek. DeepSeek's first-round financing target is approximately 50 billion RMB and could be completed as early as next month. After the transaction, the company's valuation may exceed 350 billion RMB. JD.com and NetEase are also reportedly in talks to participate, but the final investors and amounts may still be subject to adjustment. In recent years, CATL has been accelerating its expansion into the AI data center infrastructure business. In addition to providing power batteries, it also supplies backup power batteries and energy storage systems to data centers. Earlier this month, a CATL-affiliated company invested $942 million in GDS Holdings and also invested in Zhongheng Electric, a manufacturer of power supply systems for data centers. Reports indicate that DeepSeek has already built its own data center in Inner Mongolia and is currently recruiting data center operations and maintenance personnel in the region. With the rapid growth in demand for AI computing power, the need for energy storage and stable power supply in data centers is also increasing, providing CATL with an opportunity to further penetrate the AI infrastructure sector. Previous reports stated that DeepSeek's current financing round has attracted attention from multiple Chinese capital entities, including the National AI Investment Fund and tech giants. Although DeepSeek has yet to achieve large-scale revenue, its low-cost open-source models have created competitive pressure on companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. [Original Link]