Z.ai to Release GLM 4.5, its Largest Open Source Model
Chinese AI startup Z.ai (formerly known as Zhipu AI) is set to release its latest open-source large language model (LLM) called GLM 4.5.
The model is expected to go live by July 28, 2025, and will be freely accessible for developers and businesses worldwide.
What Is GLM‑4.5?
GLM‑4.5 is a powerful new version in Z.ai’s Generative Language Model series.
It’s designed to match the capabilities of top-tier global models like OpenAI’s GPT-4 while being fully open-source and available under the permissive MIT license.
Key points:
The model supports advanced reasoning, multi-turn dialogue, coding, and instruction following.
Earlier versions of GLM had already gained global traction, with over 30 million downloads.
GLM‑4.5 aims to provide performance similar to GPT‑4 and Claude 3 but without the closed access or usage fees.
Z.ai, backed by heavyweights including Alibaba and Tencent, is seen as a rising OpenAI rival within China.
Its previous GLM‑130B and ChatGLM releases have already amassed over 30 million global downloads.
The upcoming GLM‑4.5 is expected to advance its reputation both domestically and internationallyackground
Z.ai’s GLM models vs other major open-source frameworks
Z.ai’s GLM models stand out for being fully open-source under the MIT license, with strong reasoning and Chinese-English multilingual support.
DeepSeek-V2 also excels in reasoning and math but offers less multilingual capability and limited licensing.
Baidu’s ERNIE focuses on multimodal tasks and has enterprise strengths but comes with restrictive usage rights.
Meta’s LLaMA 3 models boast global popularity and top performance, yet their custom license limits commercial use.
Overall, Z.ai offers the most accessible blend of openness, performance, and localization among the four.
What’s Next?
Z.ai plans to release GLM‑4.5 in multiple formats (chat, coding, reasoning) via public repositories like Hugging Face and ModelScope.
Expand its partnerships with hardware firms like Intel and Huawei to optimize performance on Chinese chips.
Increase multilingual support and open tools for fine-tuning.
News Gist
Chinese AI startup Z.ai (formerly Zhipu) is launching GLM‑4.5, a powerful open-source language model to rival GPT‑4.
With MIT licensing, strong reasoning, and multilingual support, it strengthens China’s AI innovation push and global competition in open-source AI.
