LandedLarge Models / Generative AIGovernment / Project-based Cooperation2025SE-017

Zhipu AI (Z.ai) · Singapore

Global South·Southeast Asia·Group: Zhipu AI

Source: China's Zhipu eyes expansion via Belt and Road Initiative as global AI market heats up (SCMP) (2025)High

How to read these numbers: A purposive, publicly sourced case library, not a probability sample: counts describe the library, not market share. Monetary figures mix investment, revenue and user metrics — treat them as magnitude markers and defer to the verbatim description and source link.

What happened

Zhipu AI has prioritised Southeast Asia in its overseas expansion: it has established offices in Singapore and Malaysia, operates joint 'innovation centres' in Indonesia and Vietnam, and promotes localised sovereign AI agents to multiple national governments; its Hong Kong IPO prospectus confirms that the company is involved in building 'national- and city-level foundation model platforms' in Southeast Asia. In the first three quarters of 2025, revenue from private (on-premises) large-model deployments in Malaysia and Singapore was nearly RMB 18 million (approximately US$2.6 million), making these its only overseas private-deployment markets besides the United States.

Localisation & innovation

A 'sovereign AI + joint innovation centre' model: combining private deployment, the export of local-governance know-how, and government-side channels

Structured fields

Host country: Singapore
Region: Southeast Asia
AI segment: Large Models / Generative AI
Entry mode: Government / Project-based Cooperation
Entry year: 2025
Deployment status: Landed
Capital direction: China->host (outbound deployment)
Company group: Zhipu AI

Local partner

No primary local partner disclosed in this record.

Scale

Revenue from private deployments in Malaysia and Singapore of approximately RMB 18 million in the first nine months of 2025 (disclosed in the prospectus, compiled by ChinaTalk)

Sources & notes

Source: China's Zhipu eyes expansion via Belt and Road Initiative as global AI market heats up (SCMP) (2025)High

Record note: A mainland Chinese company (Tsinghua-affiliated; listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 8 January 2026). Its business covers Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam; country is recorded as Singapore based on its office location and revenue attribution. Malaysia revenue is disclosed jointly with Singapore (not broken out separately in the prospectus). Information on the Indonesia and Vietnam 'innovation centres' comes from SCMP, citing Reuters. Cross-reference with the entry on Zhipu's Malaysia sovereign large-model project. This entry combines two sets of search results after cross-verification.

Compiled from public reporting and company disclosures. Not legal or investment advice — cite the source link alongside any quotation.

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