The 745B Parameter Enigma: GLM-5 Emerges from Stealth, Jolts AI Market
Introduction: The Unveiling of GLM-5
Zhipu AI's GLM-5, its fifth-generation large language model, has emerged as a significant development in the AI industry, positioning itself as a direct competitor to models such as OpenAI's GPT-5 and Anthropic's Claude series 1. Its highly anticipated release coincided with China's Spring Festival in early 2026 2.
The model initially surfaced around February 6, 2026, on the OpenRouter platform under the codename "Pony Alpha," appearing in what was described as a "stealth mode" without immediate developer identification 3. This leaked model quickly garnered attention for showcasing "Opus-level" performance in key areas like coding, reasoning, and agent workflows 4.
The official launch window for GLM-5 was widely anticipated between February 10 and 15, 2026 1. News reports from February 11, 2026, indicated Zhipu AI's announcement that GLM-5 would officially roll out early on Thursday, February 12th 3. The timeline leading up to and including the official rollout is summarized below:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| January 8, 2026 | Zhipu AI founder announced plans to launch the new-generation GLM-5 model. |
| February 6, 2026 | Model named 'Pony Alpha' (speculated GLM-5) appeared on OpenRouter in 'stealth mode'. |
| February 9, 2026 | GLM-5 was spotted in open-source development efforts on GitHub. |
| February 10, 2026 | News confirmed 'Pony Alpha' suspected to be GLM-5, leading to Zhipu AI stock surge. |
| February 11, 2026 | Zhipu AI announced GLM-5 would officially roll out early on Thursday (February 12th). |
| February 12, 2026 | Official rollout of GLM-5 reported. |
Description: Key Dates in the GLM-5 Rollout
The identification of "Pony Alpha" as GLM-5 on February 10, 2026, triggered an immediate and significant market reaction, causing Zhipu AI's stock price to surge by 60% in just two days and pushing its market capitalization beyond HKD 150 billion 4. Some reports even highlighted a 200% market value increase 2. Such a dramatic impact underscores GLM-5's potential to redefine the competitive landscape of global AI. This unveiling marks GLM-5 as a noteworthy contender, poised to challenge established players and signaling China's growing prowess in advanced AI development.
Key Innovations and Enhanced Capabilities
Zhipu AI's GLM-5 introduces substantial advancements that position it as a significant contender against leading large language models such as OpenAI's GPT-5 and Anthropic's Claude series . These innovations span its underlying architecture, expanded capabilities, multimodal functions, and strategic training infrastructure.
At its core, GLM-5 leverages an advanced Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture, boasting approximately 745 billion total parameters 5. Crucially, it achieves efficient processing by utilizing only 44 billion active parameters per inference 1. This design also incorporates DeepSeek's sparse attention mechanism (DSA) to facilitate efficient handling of long contexts 1.
GLM-5 is engineered for superior performance across various tasks, demonstrating breakthroughs in advanced reasoning, coding, creative writing, and agentic intelligence 2. This includes enhanced multi-step logical reasoning, complex problem-solving, and autonomous planning with effective tool utilization 1. In response to evolving market demands, GLM-5 also features significantly enhanced multimodal capabilities, specifically including advanced video understanding 6. Furthermore, it supports an impressive maximum context window of 202K tokens 6.
A pivotal strategic development is GLM-5's training infrastructure. The model was trained entirely on Huawei Ascend chips using the MindSpore framework, signifying a deliberate move towards greater independence from US-manufactured hardware 1. This strategic choice underscores Zhipu AI's commitment to building a sovereign AI ecosystem. Zhipu AI also maintains a history of open-sourcing its models, and GLM-5 is anticipated to follow this trend, potentially under an MIT license, making its technology more accessible 1. Additionally, its API pricing is expected to be ultra-low, projected around $0.11 per million tokens, aiming to offer a cost-effective solution in the competitive AI landscape 1.
Impact and Industry Reaction
Building on the advanced features and architectural innovations detailed previously, GLM-5's entry into the AI landscape has triggered significant reactions across the industry, impacting market dynamics, competitive landscapes, and strategic technology development.
The mere anticipation and subsequent 'stealth' launch of GLM-5, initially codenamed 'Pony Alpha,' led to a dramatic surge in Zhipu AI's market valuation. News confirming 'Pony Alpha' as GLM-5 on February 10, 2026, saw Zhipu AI's stock price cumulatively rise 60% in just two days, pushing its market capitalization beyond HKD 150 billion 4. Some headlines even reported a 200% market value increase, securing Zhipu AI's top position in domestic AI .
This market enthusiasm underscores GLM-5's competitive positioning as a formidable challenger to established global models such as OpenAI's GPT-5 and Anthropic's Claude series . Headlines heralded it as "China's Next AI Powerhouse Enters the Global Arena," highlighting its intent to reshape the international AI landscape 7.
A critical strategic implication lies in GLM-5's training infrastructure. Developed entirely on Huawei Ascend chips using the MindSpore framework, GLM-5 represents a significant stride towards independence from US-manufactured hardware . This move signals a new era for 'sovereign AI,' reducing reliance on external supply chains and fostering indigenous technological development 1.
For users and developers, GLM-5 holds substantial promise. Zhipu AI's previous commitment to open-sourcing models suggests GLM-5 may also be released under an open license, potentially MIT, making it widely accessible to the developer community 1. Furthermore, its anticipated ultra-low API pricing, possibly around $0.11 per million tokens, positions GLM-5 as a highly cost-effective and attractive option for various applications 1.
Initial impressions, particularly from its appearance as 'Pony Alpha' on OpenRouter, indicated "Opus-level" performance in complex tasks such as coding, reasoning, and sophisticated agent workflows 4. These early reviews suggest GLM-5's advanced capabilities could indeed redefine AI's coding and creativity frontiers 1.
Conclusion: What Lies Ahead for GLM-5
Zhipu AI's GLM-5 has made an immediate and substantial impact on the artificial intelligence landscape, emerging as a significant point of interest around China's Spring Festival in early 2026 2. Its unannounced debut as "Pony Alpha" on the OpenRouter platform around February 6, 2026, generated considerable buzz before being officially identified as GLM-5 . This rapid entry triggered a remarkable market reaction, with Zhipu AI's stock price surging 60% in two days and its market capitalization surpassing HKD 150 billion 4. Positioned as a direct challenger to leading models like OpenAI's GPT-5 and Anthropic's Claude series, GLM-5 has undeniably reshaped market expectations .
At its core, GLM-5 boasts a sophisticated Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture, featuring approximately 745 billion total parameters with only 44 billion active parameters per inference . This design also incorporates DeepSeek's sparse attention mechanism for efficient long-context handling 1. Consequently, it supports a maximum context window of 202K tokens 6. These innovations underpin its advanced capabilities in multi-step logical reasoning, complex problem-solving, creative writing, coding, and autonomous planning with tool utilization . Addressing market demands, GLM-5 further enhances multimodal capabilities, including video understanding 6.
A pivotal strategic differentiator for GLM-5 is its training exclusively on Huawei Ascend chips using the MindSpore framework, signaling a clear move towards technological sovereignty and independence from US-manufactured hardware . Zhipu AI's established history of open-sourcing its models suggests GLM-5 may follow suit, potentially under an MIT license, complemented by ultra-low API pricing estimated around $0.11 per million tokens 1. This unique combination of cutting-edge architecture, robust capabilities, strategic independent training infrastructure, and a commitment to open-source principles and cost-effectiveness positions GLM-5 as a formidable global challenger in the AI arena 7. Its continued development is poised to significantly influence the future trajectory of AI, fostering an accessible, sovereign AI ecosystem and potentially reshaping the global competitive landscape.