Chinese startup Z.ai has announced its newest artificial intelligence model, GLM-4.5. The new GLM-4.5 model is also open-sourced, which will allow developers to download and use it for free.
Z.ai, previously known as Zhipu, has confirmed that GLM-4.5 is built on “agentic” AI principles. The company claims that its latest AI model will be cheaper to use than DeepSeek . This new model shows how Chinese companies are creating more capable AI models at reduced costs. This means the model can automatically decompose a task into sub-tasks to complete it with greater accuracy, which is a different approach from the logic of some existing AI models. In June, OpenAI included Zhipu in a warning list regarding advancements in Chinese AI. The US government has also placed the startup on its restricted entity list, limiting American firms from engaging in business with it.
What Z.ai said about its AI model GLM-4.5 being cheaper than DeepSeek
In a statement to CNBC, Zhang Peng , the CEO of Z.ai, said the company’s new GLM-4.5 model runs on eight Nvidia H20 chips . The company claimed its V3 model was trained for under $6 million, though some analysts noted that figure reflects part of its total hardware investment, which exceeded $500 million. iQOO Z10R 5G goes on Sale: BEST Budget Phone for Content Creators?
Back in January, DeepSeek drew attention from global investors with its AI model, which it said was developed despite US chip restrictions and came with lower training and operating costs than its US counterparts. These are Nvidia’s AI training chips that are specifically designed for the Chinese market to comply with US export rules. the timeline for delivery remains unclear While Nvidia recently received approval to resume shipments to China after a pause.