The rise of China’s coordinated AI power

A mysterious AI model dubbed “Pony Alpha” captured global attention in early February when it autonomously debugged code, read logs, and even built a C language compiler without human help. On February 11, Chinese company Zhipu revealed the model was its open-source flagship GLM-5, sparking excitement during what analysts call the “AI Spring Festival blockbuster season.” The launch of GLM-5’s paid coding package sold out instantly, while JPMorgan rated Zhipu a “Buy,” driving a 40 percent single-day stock surge. GLM-5 demonstrated advanced engineering capabilities, surpassing Google’s Gemini 3.0 Pro on programming benchmarks, and integrated core technologies from DeepSeek that are now being adopted across the Chinese AI ecosystem. Alongside Zhipu, Seedance 2.0 from ByteDance showcased high-quality cinematic video and audio generation, underscoring China’s growing leadership in AI development. Observers say these breakthroughs mark a shift from single-company achievements to coordinated, infrastructure-defining advances, signaling China’s AI influence is increasingly shaping the global landscape.

Credit : CGTN