DeepSeek Raises Over 50 Billion Yuan Series A on June 18, Launches Image Recognition Feature

According to Chinanews, DeepSeek officially launched its web version image recognition mode on June 18, with the app version in closed beta. The feature remains in early stages, with limited accuracy; the model struggled to identify DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng in test cases, eventually admitting uncertainty about face recognition predictions.

The feature launch comes as DeepSeek confirms over 50 billion yuan in Series A funding, with founder Liang Wenfeng contributing approximately 20 billion yuan as the largest single investor. Tencent committed 10 billion yuan, Ningde Times ecosystem 5 billion yuan, and NetEase, JD.com, Monolith, and IDG Capital each contributed 3 billion yuan. Core investment terms include a commitment not to recruit DeepSeek staff or encourage employees to launch startups.