Zixuan Li is Director of Product and genAI Strategy at Z.ai (also known as Zhipu 智谱 AI). The release of their benchmark-topping flagship model, GLM 4.5, was akin to “another DeepSeek moment,” in the words of Nathan Lambert.

Our conversation today covers…

What sets Z.ai apart from other Chinese models, including coding, role-playing capabilities, and translations of cryptic Chinese internet content,

Why Chinese AI companies chase recognition from Silicon Valley thought leaders,

The role of open source in the Chinese AI ecosystem,

Fears of job loss and the prevalence of AI pessimism in China,

How Z.ai trains its models, and what capabilities the company is targeting next.

Co-hosting today are Irene Zhang, long-time ChinaTalk analyst, as well as Nathan Lambert of the Interconnects Substack.

Follow Z.ai on X: https://x.com/Zai_org

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