DeepSeek’s preparations for a Shanghai STAR Market IPO have accelerated following its first major external funding round, with reports from Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, and South China Morning Post indicating the company is targeting a filing by the end of 2026 and a public debut in 2027. The Hangzhou-based large language model developer recently neared completion of a roughly $7.4 billion pre-IPO round at a $74 billion valuation to fund R&D and infrastructure, after raising about $7 billion earlier in 2026 at a lower valuation. Its efficient, cost-competitive models have driven rapid adoption and annualized revenue approaching $500 million despite U.S. chip export restrictions, as it relies on Huawei hardware. No official filing has occurred yet, and Chinese exchanges show no records as of late August, leaving room for slippage amid regulatory support for AI listings and ongoing competitive pressure from U.S. labs. Key near-term catalysts include the funding close and any advisor-led IPO documentation.