According to reports, Chinese artificial intelligence startup Zhipu AI unveiled a free AI agent, joining a wave of similar launches in China's increasingly competitive AI market.

The item, named AutoGLM Rumination, is capable of conducting in-depth research along with activities such as web searches, travel arrangements, and composing research reports, CEO Zhang Peng stated during a lunch gathering in Beijing.

The agent utilizes Zhipu's exclusive models, such as its reasoning model GLM-Z1-Air and foundational model GLM-4-Air-0414. The company asserts that the GLM-Z1-Air competes with DeepSeek's R1 in performance, operating up to eight times quicker and needing only one-thirtieth of the computing resources.

AI agents are systems created to independently make choices and perform various tasks.

The introduction comes after a spike in Chinese AI product launches, prompted by DeepSeek's earlier this year disruption of the industry with a model it claimed ran at significantly lower costs compared to U.S. competitors.

It also follows weeks after rival Manus generated excitement with what it promoted as the world's first general AI agent.

Manus may bill users as much as $199 each month, whereas Zhipu's AutoGLM Rumination will be offered at no cost via the company's official platforms, which encompass its GLM model website and mobile application.

Zhipu AI, established in 2019 as a spinoff of a Tsinghua University lab, has become one of the top AI startups in China.

The firm that created the GLM series of models asserts that its newest large language model, GLM4, surpasses OpenAI's GPT-4 on multiple benchmarks.

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The startup gained attention earlier this month by obtaining three back-to-back rounds of government-supported funding within just one month. The latest funding was provided by Chengdu city, which allocated 300 million yuan ($41.5 million) to the firm.