In today’s ExchangeWire news digest: Anthropic teams up with Hg to launch a European AI consultancy, DeepSeek raises USD$15bn (£11.33bn) as it tries to close the gap with US AI rivals, and WPP’s chief AI officer says shopping bots could reshape who brands are selling to.

Anthropic teams with Hg
Anthropic has agreed to back a new European consultancy with London-based private equity firm Hg, according to the Financial Times. It is Anthropic’s first move to create an independent business selling AI expertise to companies on the continent. People familiar with the matter said the venture will embed AI consultants and engineers into client businesses, where they will lead the design of AI-powered products or support existing efforts, and will also serve Hg’s portfolio companies.

Anthropic will contribute balance sheet capital, while Hg will invest through funds it manages, including the London-listed HgCapital Trust. The company is expected to launch by the end of the year with hubs in London and Berlin, focusing on software companies serving business clients and other white-collar sectors. The partners are reportedly aiming to build a business worth more than USD$10bn (£7.6bn) within five years.

DeepSeek raises $15bn as it tries to close gap with US AI rivals
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has raised about 100bn yuan (£11.4bn) in its latest funding round, Bloomberg News reported. The Hangzhou-based company raised its fundraising goal at least twice, from an initial 50bn yuan (£5.41bn) to 80bn yuan (£8.65bn), before settling on the final figure. Battery maker CATL and Tencent were among the largest investors.

The funding should help narrow the resource gap with US rivals OpenAI and Anthropic, each of which has raised more than USD$100bn (£75.5bn), though DeepSeek’s financial firepower remains considerably smaller. Since drawing global attention in 2025, the company has stepped up spending on data centres and open-source models as it prepares for a potential initial public offering, according to Bloomberg.

WPP’s AI chief says shopping bots could reshape who brands sell to
WPP Chief AI Officer Daniel Hulme has told CNBC that the next big shift in advertising may come when AI agents begin making recommendations and purchases on people’s behalf. That raises the question for marketers of who the real customer is if a personal AI sits between a brand and a shopper: the person or their software. 

Hulme also discussed how AI is already changing campaign building, audience understanding and creative work, as well as the future of advertising inside chatbots. On safety, he argued the industry should talk less about “AI ethics” and put more weight on testing, safety and responsibility.