Zhipu AI Launches Free AI Agent Amid Intensifying China Tech Race

Zhipu AI, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, has launched a free AI agent called AutoGLM Rumination, escalating competition in the country’s rapidly evolving AI sector.

The announcement was made Monday at a lunch event in Beijing by Chief Executive Officer Zhang Peng.

AutoGLM Rumination can perform deep research, conduct web searches, plan travel, and write research reports.

The agent is powered by Zhipu’s proprietary models, including the reasoning model GLM-Z1-Air and the foundation model GLM-4-Air-0414.

Zhipu claims GLM-Z1-Air matches the performance of rival DeepSeek’s R1 model while operating up to eight times faster and using only one-thirtieth of the computing resources.

AI agents are designed to make decisions and carry out a variety of tasks autonomously.

Zhipu’s launch follows a surge in AI product releases in China, triggered by DeepSeek’s earlier release of a low-cost model that challenged U.S. competitors.

The move also comes shortly after rival Manus introduced what it called the world’s first general AI agent.

While Manus charges users up to USD 199 monthly, Zhipu’s AutoGLM Rumination will be available for free through its official website and mobile app.

Founded in 2019 as a spinoff from a Tsinghua University laboratory, Zhipu AI has become one of China’s leading AI startups.

The company’s GLM4 large language model reportedly outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-4 on several benchmarks.

Earlier this month, Zhipu secured three rounds of government-backed funding in quick succession.

The latest investment came from the city of Chengdu, which contributed 300 million yuan (USD 41.5 million).

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• Zhipu AI launched free AI agent AutoGLM Rumination

• The agent performs research, web searches, travel planning, and report writing

• Powered by GLM-Z1-Air and GLM-4-Air-0414 models

Source: REUTERS