en.Wedoany.com Reported - Tang Jie, founder and CEO of Chinese artificial intelligence startup Z.ai, stated that the company is capable of launching a next-generation AI model with performance comparable to Anthropic's Fable 5, and that its release will come sooner than Elon Musk's previously predicted first quarter of 2027. In an interaction on X, Musk estimated that a Fable 5-class model would be released in Q1 2027, but Tang Jie explicitly countered, saying "it won't take that long."

This announcement comes amid intensifying competition between China and the United States in the field of artificial intelligence. Tang Jie is the founder of Z.ai (formerly Zhipu AI), a Beijing-based company that is one of China's leading AI startups.

Z.ai released its latest AI model, GLM-5.2, on June 16, 2026. According to the company's internal benchmarks, GLM-5.2's performance is already close to Anthropic's Opus 4.7 and 4.8 versions, released in April and May of this year, and continues to outperform OpenAI's GPT-5.5 and Google's Gemini 3.1 Pro.

Anthropic released its latest public model, Fable 5, on June 10, which is essentially a "downgraded version" of Mythos 5, previewed to specific entities in early April. However, just three days after the public experienced Fable 5, the U.S. government imposed export controls on the model, barring all foreign nationals, including Anthropic employees, from accessing it.

Unable to ensure full compliance with the directive, Anthropic decided to withdraw both Fable 5 and Mythos 5 globally. This move has opened the door for Z.ai to capture users eager for cutting-edge AI models.

If Z.ai successfully develops a frontier model that matches or even surpasses Fable 5, users may turn to Chinese AI providers. However, this does not necessarily mean the U.S. will automatically suffer, as it still retains Mythos and Fable.

The U.S. government claimed that before imposing export controls on Fable 5, Amazon discovered the model's guardrails could be jailbroken, and Anthropic refused to fix the issue before release. Anthropic argued that the alleged jailbreak issue was minor and could be replicated on other models, such as GPT-5.5. Washington stated that once the issue is resolved through a patch, the restrictions would be lifted, allowing foreign users to regain access to Fable 5.

China and the U.S. are racing to secure the most advanced AI models. The U.S. has set up multiple barriers, including export controls on the latest AI chips, the equipment needed to manufacture the latest semiconductors, and design software. Despite these obstacles, Chinese companies continue to seek breakthroughs, as evidenced by the rise of DeepSeek at the end of 2024. Tang Jie stated that Z.ai could launch a product comparable to the top U.S. models within the next few months.

This competition demonstrates that Chinese AI innovation continues. For global users, if Z.ai successfully releases a model equivalent to Fable 5 without regulatory hurdles, access to the most advanced AI technology will become more open. Washington's decision to withdraw Fable 5 has precisely created an opportunity for Z.ai to fill the gap left by Anthropic. Industry observers believe that given GLM-5.2's already impressive performance, Z.ai likely has even more powerful models in development.

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