China's Zhipu AI Sees Revenue Roughly 5x in H1, Chasing With Low Fees and Open Source

Chinese AI firm Zhipu (Zhipu AI) saw first-half revenue rise roughly fivefold year on year, driven mainly by a rapidly expanding API business; amid intensifying competition it is pushing its latest 'GLM-5.3' model to win share.

Though a Chinese story, it carries a lesson for Taiwanese readers: low prices plus open source are China's two weapons for catching up. As cost-effective open models spread, global AI-service pricing and competition shift, affecting how firms in Japan and Taiwan choose their stack. Watch the real capabilities of such low-cost open models — and whether they squeeze the space for existing paid APIs.