Chinese AI startup DeepSeek recorded revenue of 475 million yuan ($70.7 million) from January to July this year, The Information reported on Tuesday. That is nearly 10 times its full-year revenue last year.

DeepSeek posted a net loss of 715 million yuan over the same period, the report said. That is smaller than its full-year net loss of 935 million yuan last year. DeepSeek is in talks with existing and new investors about a secondary funding round, aiming to raise 50 billion yuan at a valuation of 500 billion yuan.

DeepSeek's revenue is still small compared with U.S. AI companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI. But its profitability is relatively solid. The Information said it cut costs by improving AI infrastructure efficiency so models can run with fewer chips.

Its overall gross margin from January to July was 44.6 percent, and the gross margin in its API access sales segment reached 82.9 percent. Over the same period, OpenAI posted first-quarter revenue of $5.7 billion and a gross margin of 39 percent. Anthropic recorded second-quarter revenue of $11.5 billion and said it expects its gross margin to rise from 40 percent in 2025 to 63 percent in 2026.

The Information last month reported DeepSeek's annualised revenue at about $400 million to $500 million, and the latest figures show faster growth than that. The revenue increase is expected to bolster future fundraising talks and efforts to pursue an initial public offering. DeepSeek raised 50 billion yuan in its first funding round in June and immediately began a second round. The Information said it has already selected investment banks to prepare for a Shanghai listing next year.