Startup Z.ai Launches Revolutionary Cost-Effective GLM-4.5 AI Model
Chinese AI startup Z.ai, formerly known as Zhipu, has announced the launch of its next-generation AI model, GLM-4.5, aiming to set new standards in performance, accessibility, and affordability in the AI industry. This advanced model is available as open-source and features a novel Mixture of Experts architecture designed specifically for intelligent agent applications. With 355 billion total parameters, GLM-4.5 integrates reasoning, coding, and agentic capabilities into a single model, making it highly versatile for complex AI tasks.
GLM-4.5 offers significant cost advantages compared to key competitors like DeepSeek and Western models such as OpenAI's GPT-4. The model runs efficiently on just eight Nvidia H20 GPUs, which is about half the hardware requirement of comparable models, resulting in substantial cost savings. Pricing for GLM-4.5 usage is approximately 11 cents per million input tokens and 28 cents per million output tokens, notably cheaper than DeepSeek’s costs. This affordability, combined with its open-source nature, allows startups, product teams, and enterprises to deploy cutting-edge AI capabilities without prohibitive expenses or vendor lock-in.
Advanced Agentic Capabilities and Broad Application Potential
GLM-4.5's agentic architecture enables it to autonomously break down multi-step tasks, improving accuracy and operational efficiency in complex workflows such as code generation, customer support, data analysis, and autonomous decision-making. It supports dual operational modes: a thinking mode for intricate reasoning and use of external tools, and a non-thinking mode for immediate response scenarios, enhancing its adaptability to different use cases.
Alongside GLM-4.5, Z.ai has released a lighter variant, GLM-4.5-Air, which contains fewer parameters and is optimized for cost-effective, faster inference on more affordable hardware. Both models address various requirements for AI-driven applications, including chatbots, virtual assistants, document summarization, PowerPoint creation, creative writing, and digital storytelling. By providing accessible AI models with powerful multi-domain capabilities, Z.ai strengthens China’s position in the global open-source AI ecosystem and catalyzes innovation for AI developers worldwide.
The launch of Z.AI of GLM-4.5 occurs in the middle of a fierce competition in the landscape of artificial intelligence of China, where more than 1,500 models of large language, supported by government initiatives and a collaborative culture of models exchange. This version underlines the trend towards affordable, efficient and open systems that enhance a wide spectrum of users from new companies to large companies, with scalable and intelligent solutions.