Zhipu AI Secures $137 Million Amidst U.S. Trade Restrictions

Mar 4, 2025
Chinese AI startup Zhipu AI has raised $137 million in a new funding round, despite being on a U.S. trade blacklist. The funds will enhance its GLM large language model and expand its AI ecosystem.

Chinese artificial intelligence startup Zhipu AI has raised over 1 billion yuan ($137 million) in a fresh funding round, . This comes despite the company being on a U.S. trade blacklist, which restricts its access to American technology.

The funding round saw participation from state-backed investors such as Hangzhou City Investment Group Industrial Fund and Shangcheng Capital. Zhipu AI plans to use the funds to enhance its GLM large language model and expand its AI ecosystem, focusing on businesses in Zhejiang province and the Yangtze River Delta economic zone.

Zhipu AI, founded in 2019, has been actively developing open-source AI models. The company announced plans to release a suite of new AI models under an open-source framework, aligning with other Chinese firms like Alibaba and Tencent in embracing open-source AI. Despite the U.S. sanctions, Zhipu AI's latest funding round reflects a strong investor confidence in the potential of Chinese AI startups.

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