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Another week in the summer of 2025 has begun, and in a continuation of the trend from last week, with it arrives more powerful Chinese open source AI models.
Little-known (at least to us here in the West) Chinese startup Z.ai has introduced two new open source LLMs — GLM-4.5 and GLM-4.5-Air — casting them as go-to solutions for AI reasoning, agentic behavior, and coding.
And according to Z.ai’s blog post, the models perform near the top of the pack of other proprietary LLM leaders in the U.S.
For example, the flagship GLM-4.5 matches or outperforms leading proprietary models like Claude 4 Sonnet, Claude 4 Opus, and Gemini 2.5 Pro on evaluations such as BrowseComp, AIME24, and SWE-bench Verified, while ranking third overall across a dozen competitive tests.
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Its lighter-weight sibling, GLM-4.5-Air, also performs within the top six, offering strong results relative to its smaller scale.
Both models feature dual operation modes: a thinking mode for complex reasoning and tool use, and a non-thinking mode for instant response scenarios. They can automatically generate complete PowerPoint presentations from a single title or prompt, making them useful for meeting preparation, education, and internal reporting.
They further offer creative writing, emotionally aware copywriting, and script generation to create branded content for social media and the web. Moreover, z.ai says they support virtual character development and turn-based dialogue systems for customer support, roleplaying, fan engagement, or digital persona storytelling.
While both models support reasoning, coding, and agentic capabilities, GLM-4.5-Air is designed for teams seeking a lighter-weight, more cost-efficient alternative with faster inference and lower resource requirements.
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