Investing.com -- Chinese AI company DeepSeek has started preparations for an initial public offering and may file as soon as this year, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday. The Hangzhou-based firm is planning for a mainland IPO with a targeted filing in 2026 that would allow it to debut in 2027.

The startup is in talks with accounting and banking advisors as it moves forward with its IPO plans, the report said.

DeepSeek is reportedly also seeking to raise additional funds in the private market ahead of the public offering, just weeks after closing a record $7 billion financing round. The company has begun discussions with new backers about a fresh funding round targeting a pre-money valuation of at least 480 billion yuan ($71 billion), according to the report.

This represents an increase from the roughly $50 billion valuation DeepSeek received in its first round of external financing, which closed in early June with investors including Tencent Holdings and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. DeepSeek aims to raise at least 10 billion yuan of additional funds, though the final amount could go several times higher depending on investor participation, the report added.

The discussions remain in flux, and the IPO timing and funding plans could change. Execution will depend on market conditions and the company's performance.

The startup is working with accounting firms to finish its financial report by the end of December, a necessary step for the IPO filing, the report said. The company plans to make the filing near the end of this year or early in 2027, depending on when the financials are ready.

The latest fundraising effort was first reported by the Financial Times.

DeepSeek's senior management has told potential investors that the startup will prioritize groundbreaking AI research over short-term commercialization, Bloomberg News had previously reported.

U.S. AI companies Anthropic and OpenAI both filed confidentially for IPOs in June 2026, targeting valuations of as much as $1 trillion, though market volatility and regulatory pressures may push their debuts from late 2026 into 2027.

Elon Musk's SpaceX, which owns xAI that runs chatbot Grok, went public on June 12, 2026, in the largest initial public offering in stock market history, raising $86 billion.