A Chinese AI gains ground on the most powerful models of Claude and ChatGPT

BarcelonaThUS artificial intelligence models, which have comfortably dominated the market since the launch of ChatGPT, no longer seem so unattainable. In mid-June, the start-up Chinese Z.ai, a Tsinghua University spin-off that has been at the forefront of Beijing's technological strategy, has released its latest product, GLM-5.2. The analysis published by the company itself places it at a similar level to the main products of OpenAI and Anthropic laboratories. Market analysts have confirmed its potential; the cybersecurity company Semgrep, for example, has stated: "We have another Mythos at home." Experts consulted by ARA acknowledge that a general independent valuation is needed, but indicate that, based on the published specifications, GLM-5.2 would be "no more than 1% below" American competition.

Technology analysts praise the Chinese ecosystem's ability to develop these tools. "They have made a virtue of necessity," comments Aleix Valls, founder of the consultancy WeArtificial, in conversation with this newspaper. The technical impediments that the Chinese innovative fabric still suffers from, with less raw computing power and the most advanced chips blocked by the White House, have actually served to further improve its technology. According to Josep Curto, founder of AthenaCore, Washington's restrictions have spurred Asian ingenuity and Chinese laboratories have focused on programming "more efficient models", which must run on less powerful infrastructures.

This advance demonstrates, in the eyes of the expert, the excesses of Anthropic and OpenAI. Because they have had access to practically unlimited capital, and have been able to build data centers at will, their models "are pure brute force". "They use the entire network even if they don't need it," he insists. On the contrary, Z.ai "changes parts of the algorithm that are unnecessary or redundant," and with this they need far fewer computers running at the same time. Thanks to this cutback, GLM-5.2 is substantially cheaper than its competitors, with a price between six and seven times lower than the Americans, according to market sources.

Trump's rear-end shot

According to experts, the evolution of GLM-5.2 is the result of the clash of technological strategies between China and the US. According to Curto, Xi Jinping's government "uses any mechanism" to eliminate any technological dependence on its geopolitical rival. Among other supports, Z.ai has received sustained funding from tech giants like Tencent and Alibaba, who have participated in its various funding rounds since 2020.

Conversely, Valls recalls, the Trump administration interpreted that if it managed to prevent the infrastructure for the most advanced AI and LLMs from reaching the Chinese market, "they would not be able to achieve" technological sovereignty. A thesis that has proven completely wrong: without Nvidia's most advanced chips, China has connected its artificial intelligence labs with tech companies like Huawei to optimize its circuits for local models.

In fact, the founder of WeArtificial identifies a clear political intentionality in the market access pace of major Chinese products. GLM-5.2, it should be remembered, was available only a few hours after the Trump administration's order to block Mythos and Fable, Anthropic's cutting-edge models, for all users without US citizenship. The same has happened with OpenAI's GPT 5.6, which has been limited to a "small group of trusted companions".

Beijing's roadmap is based on "looking for the weaknesses" of the competition and exploiting them. "Given the arbitrariness that Trump demonstrates, the Chinese present themselves as robust," he observes. Furthermore, the Asian giant's AI "start-ups" do not compete among themselves, unlike American ones. In the US, "the pie is not big enough for everyone" in terms of capital, while in China "there is a political directive" that accelerates the entire sector, reflects Curto.