"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders, Researchers, and Live Player Analysis China's AI Upstarts: How Z.ai Builds, Benchmarks & Ships in Hours, from ChinaTalk
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Dec 3, 2025 
Zixuan Li, Director of Product and Gen AI Strategy at Z.ai, discusses the rapid evolution of AI in China. He shares insights on Z.ai's unique open weights strategy and the cultural factors influencing AI development. Zixuan highlights their GLM 4.6 model and roles in AI use cases, particularly role-playing. The conversation addresses talent competition, global recognition, and challenges around AI safety and job impacts. He emphasizes Z.ai's swift model release process, often shipping in hours, showcasing their commitment to innovation and transparency.
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Unified Model Via Distillation
- Zixuan Li says Z.ai distilled three specialized models into one unified GLM focused on reasoning, coding, and agents.
- This multi-model distillation sped development and produced a more capable single model.
Leaders Stay Hands-On In Fast AI
- Zixuan Li advises leaders to run experiments themselves and stay hands-on during fast-moving model development.
- He argues founders must personally do research and training to sense trends and adapt quickly.
Open Weights As A Marketing Play
- Zixuan Li explains many Chinese labs open-weight primarily to gain global mindshare and developer adoption.
- He frames open models as pragmatic marketing to reach researchers who won't use foreign-hosted APIs.