DeepSeek has put its latest fundraising round on hold, interrupting a private-market surge that valued the firm at a minimum of 480 billion yuan ($71 billion).Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that the Chinese artificial intelligence startup verbally told some prospective investors that investment agreements would not be signed on the anticipated timetable.Valuation Surge Meets Geopolitical RealitiesThat investor roster also amplifies the sensitivity around the alleged comments. DeepSeek is a flagship symbol of China’s ability to compete with Silicon Valley despite US export controls on advanced chips.Its models drew global attention for demonstrating strong performance while using fewer…