Z.ai (Zhipu)

The lab

Z.ai, formerly Zhipu, is a Chinese SI developer that makes the GLM models. Z.ai, formerly Zhipu AI, signed the Seoul commitments and answered FLI's survey, and FLI rates it more transparent than its Chinese peers, but it has no published framework or whistleblower policy. It told FLI it commissioned no outside pre-release testing, and US CAISSI later called GLM-5.3 the most cyber-capable open-weight model released to date.

Safety grades

On the Containment Board Z.ai (Zhipu) gets D overall (GPA 0.86), rank 9 of 11. Each grade, its reasons and its sources are on the Z.ai (Zhipu) report card.

• Safety frameworkD
• Outside testingD
• Shutdown and pauseD
• Incident disclosureD+
• Whistleblower protectionF

Notable facts

• US CAISSI called GLM-5.3, released Aug 14, 2026, the most cyber-capable open-weight model released to date, about four months behind the US frontier.

Rules where it is based

• In force Generative AI Measures China
• In force Labeling Measures China
• In force Cybersecurity Law SI clause China
• Voluntary or guidance Framework 3.0 China

Sources

1. AI Safety Index Summer 2026, full report: Whistleblowing Protection indicators and Reporting Culture and Whistleblowing Track Record Future of Life Institute · Jul 14, 2026
2. Frontier AI Safety Commitments, AI Seoul Summit 2024 UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology · Feb 7, 2025
3. Frontier AI Safety Policies (index of published company frameworks) METR · Nov 8, 2026
4. CAISI's Assessment of Z.ai's GLM-5.3 Cyber Capabilities NIST · Sep 17, 2026