China AI coding breaks into U.S.

Summary

CNBC's Deirdre Bosa reports that Chinese AI startup Zhipu AI's new GLM-4.7 coding model has seen fivefold traffic growth, with its coding plan user base concentrated in the US and China. The segment highlights how open-source Chinese AI models are gaining global traction and becoming cheaper, easier to customize, and harder to cut off. Bosa notes AI coding agents may be commoditizing like chatbots, a key competitive implication for AI software and Chinese AI companies.

• Chinese AI startup Zhipu AI released GLM-4.7 and saw online traffic jump fivefold.
• Its coding plan user base is primarily in the US and China.
• Sources say the model is strong on agents and coding and can be fine-tuned because it is open source.
• A CNBC test produced a working app from one prompt.
• Bosa says AI coding agents are becoming commoditized like chatbots.
• China's edge is open-source models that are cheaper to run, easier to customize, and harder to cut off.
• The segment frames Chinese AI tools as gaining global traction and competitive distribution advantage.