Risks to becoming the “Chinese Anthropic” include limited multi-modal capabilities, compute-power constraints, fewer monetization channels beyond coding, potential competition from Alibaba, Tencent, and Huawei, and a possible six-month gap versus top US models, alongside potential dilution when cornerstone shares unlock.

The stock’s price-to-sales ratio stands at an extremely lofty level, around 1,112.6, fueling debate over whether the valuation is justified.

Overall, the piece presents a nuanced view of Zhipu’s rapid ascent, outlining significant upside alongside valuation and execution risks, with IPO milestones and model/market developments likely to shape its trajectory.

The company plans a HK$15 billion IPO on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, with 12 billion yuan allocated to a large-scale AI base model project, 2 billion yuan for a MaaS platform, and 1 billion yuan for working capital.

Investors remain split on Zhipu’s long-term potential in AI coding and enterprise applications, with bulls arguing for strong growth and bears warning that profitability timelines are uncertain and may require ongoing fundraising.

Market outlook shows some investors warning of market manipulation and the need for continued capital to sustain R&D as Zhipu expands, while others contend the evolving AI coding market and enterprise demand could support growth despite profitability challenges.

Analysts diverge on whether Zhipu could become the Chinese equivalent of Anthropic, with bulls citing leadership in AI coding and bears citing valuation, competition, and profitability timelines.

In 2025, Zhipu’s revenue was dominated by government/enterprise deployments at 534 million yuan (73.7%), with MaaS contributing 190 million yuan (26.3%), and ARR for MaaS reaching 1.7 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2026.

Despite a revenue mix centered on government/enterprise deployments and MaaS growth, R&D spending surged to 3.18 billion yuan in 2025, yielding a net loss of about 4.718 billion yuan.

GLM-5.2 demonstrates strong coding performance (1M lossless context and a 1595 Code Arena score), highlighting Zhipu’s coding-focused AI capabilities and adaptability to domestic compute platforms.

Zhipu’s market value surged to about HK$933.6 billion by mid-June 2026, roughly three times Baidu’s value and up over 1,700% from its IPO price after five-and-a-half months of trading.