Leaked Liang Wenfeng Investor Transcript Puts DeepSeek 12–18 Months Behind the US — and Freezes Its $1.5B Round
GitHub (leaked transcript) / Hacker News·high signal
A translated transcript of DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng's closed-door investor meeting circulated on GitHub and hit 212 points and 171 comments on HN. In it Liang concedes DeepSeek remains heavily dependent on Nvidia silicon and estimates China trails the US by 12 to 18 months in AI sophistication, alongside pricing math, GPU counts and a step-by-step AGI roadmap. Reporting indicates DeepSeek has since suspended a second round targeting at least ¥10B (~$1.5B) at a ~¥480B (~$71B) pre-money valuation, after a first-round investor leaked the remarks — a rare case of a frontier lab's internal capability self-assessment becoming public.