The Hangzhou lab began testing V4.1 Flash on Sept. 8 with a new architecture, native image input and unchanged pricing. Early testers report output speeds of 350–420 tokens per second — and the beta expires Sept. 10.
Jie Tang, CEO of Beijing-based Z.ai, directly countered Elon Musk’s prediction that Chinese AI firms would reach Mythos-level LLMs by Q1 2027, declaring that China will achieve a Fable 5-class model 'soon' — before the end of this year.
China’s Ministry of Commerce released a sweeping 17-point guideline on Thursday to embed artificial intelligence across five consumer sectors, the latest effort to rev up domestic spending through tech-driven innovation.
The first external round, at a $50 billion valuation, locks in CEO Liang Wenfeng's control and solidifies the startup's role as Beijing's designated leader in the global AI race.
Washington forces Anthropic to disable Claude Fable 5 globally; Beijing's Zhipu open-sources GLM-5.2, turning containment into an accelerant for Chinese self-reliance.