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Ethics and safety policies
Zhipu AI (Z.ai / GLM): what they say, and what they leave out
Every claim on this page comes from documents Zhipu AI (Z.ai / GLM) published itself, linked below so you can check me. Checked September 19, 2026.
A policy is not an audit
Almost every document linked on this page was written by the company it governs, and graded by that same company. A long policy list does not make a lab more ethical than a short one. This page keeps three things apart: what the lab has committed to in writing, what its documents do not cover or where they have been credibly criticized, and — clearly labeled at the end — my own read.
Their stated position
Zhipu has historically released older GLM generations as open weights with technical reports, while keeping the current flagship API-only.
Published safety material is limited, and the company operates under Chinese regulatory requirements for generative services.
The documents themselves
Read these rather than this summary if a decision depends on it.
- Z.ai terms of service
Permitted use of the hosted chat product and API.
- GLM model repositories
Open-weight GLM releases, licenses and published evaluations.
What they have committed to
Stated in their own published policies, in writing.
- — Has repeatedly open-weighted prior-generation flagship models with documentation.
- — Publishes free-tier pricing openly, including models listed at zero cost per token.
What those documents don't cover
Plain absences, and criticism that has been documented publicly — not speculation.
- — No published capability-threshold or frontier-risk policy.
- — Whether the current flagship will ever be open-weighted is unconfirmed.
- — Hosted outputs are subject to Chinese content rules; the company has also been placed on US trade restriction lists, which affects who can use it.
My read
This section is my opinion, clearly separated from everything above. Disagree with it freely.
A serious open-weight contributor with almost no public safety governance to examine. The free tier is unusually generous; the documentation of risk is not.