Zhipu AI shares surged 33% after a US restriction on Anthropic’s most advanced models unexpectedly became a rallying point for Chinese artificial intelligence stocks.
The Trump administration’s order requiring Anthropic to block access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for foreign nationals has sharpened a new fault line in the AI race.
Washington is trying to lock down frontier technology on national security grounds.
The move is seen in contrast with Chinese firms, which are turning open, lowering costs and converting easier access into a commercial pitch.
Washington’s AI clampdown gives China a market opening
The immediate trigger was Anthropic’s decision to disable access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 after receiving a US export-control directive.
The restriction applied to foreign nationals, including non-US employees, and was framed around national security concerns tied to the power of frontier AI systems.
The move has unsettled customers and governments outside the US because it showed how quickly access to advanced AI tools can be withdrawn.
The European Commission was reviewing the practical consequences for European users, with a spokesperson saying the incident showed why Europe needed to strengthen technological sovereignty.
That is the broader point for markets, as for a long time, US AI companies have had the strongest models, the deepest chip access and the largest enterprise customer bases.
But if access to those models can suddenly become a political or regulatory question, buyers may look harder at alternatives.
That backdrop helped Chinese AI firms. It allowed them to argue that their models may not need to be the absolute most powerful to win customers.
They need to be available, affordable and reliable enough for developers, companies and governments that do not want to depend entirely on US platforms.
Zhipu turns openness into a stock-market story
Zhipu moved quickly into that opening as the company, also known internationally as Z.ai and listed in Hong Kong as Knowledge Atlas Technology, announced GLM-5.2 on the same day as the Anthropic restrictions dominated the AI debate.
“Cutting-edge intelligence should not belong to only a few, nor should it be withdrawn at any time,” the company said in its launch message.
“It should be open, available, extensible and built to serve every developer.”
That language landed well with investors, with Zhipu shares surging 33%, extending a rally that has already made it one of Hong Kong’s standout AI listings.
The stock had risen more than tenfold from its January IPO price of HK$116, giving the company a market value of about $83 billion earlier this month.
The rally was not only about GLM-5.2 itself. It was about what the launch represents.
Zhipu is selling the idea that China’s AI companies can compete through open-source models, cheaper access and fast product cycles at a time when US frontier models are becoming more restricted.
Bank of America initiated coverage of Zhipu and MiniMax with buy ratings, setting a HK$1,250 target for Zhipu and HK$500 for MiniMax.
The bank said China is positioned to capture a meaningful share of the global AI market in the “value-for-money” segment, with Chinese models gaining traction as “cheap-and-capable performers” while US frontier model pricing rises.
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