Why Does Meet GLM-4.5 Open Source Model Surpass o3, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and Grok 4 in Agentic Benchmarks?

GLM-4.5 is setting a new standard in open source AI. Developed by Z.ai, this model brings together strong reasoning, efficient coding, and effective tool use at a cost that makes state-of-the-art technology accessible to more developers and researchers.

A New Benchmark in Performance

GLM-4.5 demonstrates impressive results across several critical areas:

Web Browsing: Achieving a notable accuracy in web tasks that signals improved understanding and navigation.
Coding Efficiency: Securing high win rates in head-to-head coding evaluations, making it a top contender for software development tasks.
Agentic Abilities: Recording a 90.6% success rate in tool use, which places it ahead of many peers.

Technical Strengths and Innovations

This model is built on a hybrid architecture that combines a mixture-of-experts design with dual modes of operation. The approach allows GLM-4.5 to switch between deep reasoning for complex tasks and quick, efficient responses for simpler queries. Key technical details include:

Massive Parameter Count: With a total of 355 billion parameters and 32 billion active at a time, the model is designed for breadth and depth.
Extended Context: A context window of 128,000 tokens ensures that the model can handle lengthy documents and multi-turn conversations with ease.
Dual Modes: The separation between thinking and non-thinking modes helps optimize performance and cost-effectiveness.

Comparison Table of Key Specifications

Feature	GLM-4.5	GLM-4.5-Air	DeepSeek R1	Grok 4
Total Parameters	355B	106B	236B	~320B
Active Parameters	32B	12B	122B	N/A
Context Window	128k	128k	64k	256k
Architecture	MoE	MoE	MoE	Proprietary

Cost and Accessibility

GLM-4.5 makes advanced AI accessible by drastically reducing operational costs:

Low Token Pricing: Compared to mainstream APIs, the cost per million tokens is considerably lower.
Hardware Efficiency: The model operates effectively with just eight Nvidia H20 GPUs, reducing the barrier to entry for smaller teams and startups.
Open Source Licensing: Distributed under the MIT license, the model invites community contributions and easier local deployment.

Community Impact and Future Potential

The release of GLM-4.5 highlights a growing trend in open source AI developments, particularly from China, where multiple models are being introduced with a focus on hardware efficiency and accessibility. Experts appreciate the balanced performance across coding, reasoning, and agentic tasks, and early feedback points to a strong future adoption in both research and enterprise applications.

This model is clearly not just a technical upgrade but a leap forward in making high-quality AI available to a broader audience.

Final Thoughts

GLM-4.5 offers a compelling solution that combines top-tier technical performance with user-friendly cost efficiency. It stands as a strong alternative for those looking to integrate advanced AI capabilities without the premium price tag associated with many proprietary models.