High Capacity

This episode, I talk with Zixuan Li at Z.ai, one of China's top AI labs and the company behind the popular GLM models. Zixuan is Z.ai's Director of Product for genAI strategy and global partnerships. We discuss Z.ai's newest flagship AI model, the challenges of building agentic AI models, and what their longer AI strategy looks like.
00:00 Intro to Zixuan Li of Z.ai
00:29 GLM-5.1, Z.ai's Newest Flagship Model
04:34 Long Horizon Tasks
08:33 GLM Family of Foundation Models
14:30 Challenges in Developing Agentic AI Models
19:37 Working with Chinese AI Chipmakers
22:53 Open Source vs. Proprietary Models
36:49 Life After IPO and Chasing AGI
41:37 Z.ai's Global Strategy
Links:
Z.ai
GLM-5.1: Towards Long-Horizon Tasks
Zixuan on X/Twitter
For transcripts and more, check out the High Capacity newsletter.

Rui Ma, founder of Tech Buzz China, explains the real sources of China's tech strengths and where the US still has the advantage. From industrial parks to capital markets, we talk about how to understand China's tech landscape at a deeper level -- and why so many people are eager to tour Chinese factories.Links:
Tech Buzz China
Tech Buzz China newsletter
Rui Ma on X / Twitter
For transcripts and more, check out the High Capacity newsletter

Tom Wang, Hugging Face's head of APAC ecosystem, joins me to talk about the latest wave of Chinese AI models, how China's AI open source ecosystem works, the rise of AI agents and OpenClaw in China, and more.Links:- Tom Wang on Twitter / X- Tom Wang on Hugging FaceFor transcripts and more, check out the High Capacity newsletter

From DeepSeek to Kimi, China's open-source AI models have gotten all the attention. But open source has a much longer history in China, according to Kevin Xu, former head of global expansion strategy at GitHub. Kevin takes us on a journey through China's open source evolution, from its grassroots beginnings to its central role today in China's AI strategy. We also get into the current OpenClaw craze in China and why Chinese tech firms seem to be jumping in faster than their American peers.

00:00 Intro to Kevin Xu
04:21 Early days of Chinese open source
16:11 1024 Programmers' Day and 996.ICU
27:33 Huawei enters the game
41:57 DeepSeek moment
51:17 China's OpenClaw frenzy
56:40 Will China keep doing open-source?

Links:
Chinese Open Source: A Definitive History
Kevin Xu's Interconnected newsletter
Interconnected Capital
Kevin Xu on Twitter / X
For transcripts and more, check out the High Capacity newsletter

What's China's tech culture really like? Are there billionaire tech founders? Are they worshipped like they are in the US? What inspires Chinese tech entrepreneurs?

00:00 Intro to Afra Wang
00:33 What is Chinese tech culture?
09:04 China's 4 tech generations
20:25 China's tech founders and the government
25:42 China's tech canon
44:12 Chinese sci-fi and tech culture
50:43 Chinese ideas of industrial power

Links:
- Concurrent newsletter
- Afra's professional website
- Wired: You've Never Heard of China's Greatest Sci-Fi Novel
- Asterisk: The China Tech Canon
- Afra on Twitter / X

Transcripts and more on the High Capacity newsletter