Zhipu AI is reportedly exploring a custom AI chip as demand for its GLM models starts to strain its compute supply.

The Information says the Beijing lab has made early inquiries with Chinese chip design houses, but has not selected a partner.

The trigger is clear: GLM-5.2 has reportedly been the fastest-growing model on Vercel’s aggregator since launch, with daily token usage rising as much as 27x in the first week.

Zhipu currently relies on Huawei chips, other Chinese chips and some Nvidia chips. But U.S. export controls, Huawei hardware constraints and Zhipu’s own U.S. blacklist status make a China-only chip path the obvious long-term move.

The path is clear: China and its Frontierlabs want to achieve even greater independence from Western chips and simultaneously strengthen the expansion of domestic computing.