Chinese unicorn Zhipu raises new funding from state-backed investor amid mainland AI boom

State-backed investment vehicle Zhongguancun Science City Innovation Development estimates Zhipu AI’s value at around US$2.8 billion.

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A crowd gathers at Zhipu AI’s exhibition space during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Photo: Zhipu AI

Published: 5:00pm, 5 Sep 2024

Beijing-based Zhipu AI, one of China’s four artificial intelligence (AI) “tigers”, has raised an undisclosed amount in a new funding round – led by a state-backed investor, which put the start-up’s value at around 20 billion yuan (US$2.8 billion).

Proceeds from Zhipu AI’s latest financing round – estimated to be worth “billions of yuan”, according to a report on Thursday by local media outlet 36Kr – will be used to “support technological innovation and ecosystem buildout” for its large language models (LLMs), lead investor Beijing Zhongguancun Science City Innovation Development, a state-backed investment vehicle, said in its WeChat post published on the same day.

The tech unicorn’s GLM series of LLMs – the technology underpinning generative AI services like ChatGPT – ranks as one of the leading AI models used by enterprises on the mainland, according to research firm IDC.

Zhipu AI, formally known as Beijing Zhipu Huazhang Technology, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Zhipu AI chief executive Zhang Peng speaks at a corporate event in Beijing on June 5, 2024. Photo: Handout

The company’s new funding round shows how investors have maintained a healthy appetite for AI-related enterprises on the mainland, despite Washington’s moves to prevent Beijing from pursuing advances in the technology.