Beijing-based Zhipu AI just became 2026's first major tech disruptor, launching the world's first large-scale AGI IPO on January 8. The stock surged 11.88% on debut, valuing the company at HK$57 billion – proving investors are betting big on China's AI future. 💥
💰 Price War Goes Global
Zhipu's coding tool costs just $3/month – 1/7th the price of US rival Anthropic's Claude! Chairman Liu Debing told Bloomberg: "This isn't just competition – it's a value revolution." With 150k paying developers worldwide, could this spark an AI subscription race? 🏎️💨
🔥 Growth vs. Profit
While revenue jumped 325% YoY to $27M (H1 2025), R&D costs hit $228M – 8x income! But with $358M cash reserves, Zhipu's playing the long game: "Profitability can wait – AGI can't," Liu declared.
🌏 Sovereign AI Ambitions
11.6% of revenue now comes overseas, with Southeast Asia leading the charge. Through partnerships with 10 ASEAN nations, Zhipu's building "national AI infrastructure" – a strategy even OpenAI recognizes as game-changing in their 2025 report.
