China Tops World in AI Large-Language Models
By Reuters | 28 Jul, 2025

Zhipu releases its open-source model TLM-4.5, adding to China's total of nearly half of the 3,755 large-language models released globally.

Zhipu's AI services include an image generation app. (Zhipuai.com)

Chinese AI startup Zhipu on Monday released open-source model GLM-4.5 designed for intelligent agent applications, a statement said, as it joins a wave of similar releases from local rivals in an increasingly competitive sector.

Zhipu, one of China's "AI tigers" backed by Chinese local governments, gained significant attention after OpenAI said in June that the U.S. company had observed notable progress by the Chinese startup in securing government contracts across several regions.

Zhipu's new model release adds to the growing pipeline of models from Chinese companies. As of July, China has already released 1,509 large-language models, ranking first among the 3,755 models released globally, according to a report from state-owned Xinhua news agency.

(Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; editing by Mark Heinrich)