Computing constraints force China’s Zhipu to restrict sign-ups for AI coding service

Zhipu AI, known internationally as Z.ai, is restricting sign-ups for its new flagship artificial intelligence coding product, as existing users face performance issues amid a computing crunch that continues to beset Chinese AI firms.On Wednesday, the Beijing-based firm announced in a WeChat post that it would limit new sign-ups for its GLM Coding Plan to 20 per cent of existing levels and crack down on “malicious” use.This issue reflected the challenge faced by a growing number of Chinese AI companies to expand their businesses, as computing constraints made it difficult for them to meet growing demand.The GLM Coding Plan service – in which users tap Zhipu’s AI models for coding support without paying for application programming interface access – saw a performance degradation over several weeks before Wednesday’s announcement, according to several customers interviewed by the Post.“The model itself is not bad to be honest, as long as promises are kept,” said Steve Yeung, a director at Elufa Systems in Hong Kong, who paid US$360 on January 19 for a year’s subscription that offered “high-volume workloads for advanced developers”.The next day, however, Yeung was no longer able to execute concurrent tasks, despite this feature being one of the key reasons for subscribing to the premium plan.