Z.ai

Z.ai, formally Knowledge Atlas Technology Joint Stock Co., Ltd., is a Chinese technology company specializing in artificial intelligence. Previously known internationally as Zhipu AI, the company rebranded to Z.ai in 2025. Its core focus is the GLM family of large language models, which the company has released under the permissive MIT License since July 2025, cementing its commitment to open-source AI development.

Z.ai brings 11 models to the catalog, spanning text and image generation. The flagship GLM series traces a rapid evolution from GLM 4.6 through GLM 4.7, GLM 5, and the latest GLM 5.1 released in 2026. Speed-optimized variants like GLM 4.7 Flash and GLM 5 Turbo offer lighter-weight alternatives, while GLM 5V Turbo adds vision capabilities. On the image side, Z-Image Turbo rounds out the offering.

Z.ai stands out as one of the leading open-weight AI labs emerging from China, iterating at a notably fast cadence — shipping multiple GLM generations within a single year. The MIT licensing of its models makes them particularly accessible to developers and researchers, positioning Z.ai as a meaningful counterpart to Western open-source efforts in the large language model space.