Chinese IT startup Z.ai has introduced a new artificial intelligence model, GLM-4.5, which is twice as profitable as DeepSeek in terms of token processing cost and is available in the open access for developers.
Chinese IT startup Z.ai has introduced a new artificial intelligence model, GLM-4.5, which is twice as profitable as DeepSeek in terms of token processing cost and is available in the open access for developers.
The company announced the launch of GLM-4.5 on July 28, noting that the model is based on the principle of so-called agent-based AI. This means that the AI automatically breaks down tasks into smaller ones to handle them more efficiently. This is reported by CNBC .
The GLM-4.5 model is a logical continuation of previous developments by Z.ai (formerly Zhipu) and, according to CEO Zhang Peng, requires only 8 Nvidia H20 chips to function. These chips are designed specifically for China, taking into account US export restrictions. Despite the recent import ban, Z.ai currently has no capacity shortage, so it does not plan to purchase additional ones.
Z.ai claims that their model is cheaper than DeepSeek R1: 11 cents per million input tokens versus 14 cents for the competitor, and 28 cents per million output tokens versus $2.19. For comparison, Moonshot’s Kimi K2 model (backed by Alibaba) costs $2.50 per million output tokens. GLM-4.5 is also half the size of DeepSeek.
Z.ai was mentioned in an OpenAI report as one of China’s leading AI players. The company is on the US sanctions list, which prohibits US companies from doing business with it.
Founded in 2019, Z.ai has already raised over $1.5 billion from investors including Alibaba, Tencent, Qiming Venture Partners, and municipal funds from Hangzhou and Chengdu. The company is expected to go public in China in the near future.
In July, several Chinese companies also unveiled their own open AI models. Tencent announced the HunyuanWorld-1.0 3D scene generator, and Alibaba the Qwen3-Coder code generator. Analysts note that China is systematically expanding its own AI ecosystem, reducing its dependence on Western players.
We previously wrote about how Chinese AI companies have found a way to easily circumvent US sanctions on the supply of AI chips to China. To do this, IT specialists from these companies simply fly to countries where US restrictions do not apply and return with suitcases of hard drives containing AI.
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