Zhipu AI revenue jumps 132% in first post-IPO report, missing estimates

Chinese artificial intelligence company Zhipu AI posted worse-than-expected annual revenue growth in its first earnings report since its initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong in January.Revenue rose 131.9 per cent year on year to 724.33 million yuan (US$104.8 million) for the year ended December 2025, the Beijing-based company said on Tuesday, lagging an estimate of 756 million yuan by analysts polled by Bloomberg.Total losses soared 59.5 per cent to 4.72 billion yuan driven by mounting research and development spending, which jumped 44.9 per cent to 3.18 billion yuan.Adjusted net losses totalled 3.18 billion yuan, a 29.1 per cent increase from the previous year, as gross profit margins slimmed from 56.3 per cent in 2024 to 41 per cent in 2025.The company, the first foundational AI model start-up in the world to launch an IPO, said falling margins were primarily the result of an increase in the proportion of its cloud business relative to its on-premise deployment business, as well as a “temporary” decline in the gross profit margin of the latter.A mobile phone shows a slogan from Zhipu AI, known as Z.ai internationally. Photo: Shutterstock ImagesKnown as Z.ai internationally, Zhipu’s shares fell 5.45 per cent on Tuesday ahead of the earnings results.