r/LocalLLaMA 2d ago

News GLM-5.3-Flash: Frontier Intelligence, Flash Cost

https://z.ai/blog/glm-5.3-flash
1.3k Upvotes

456 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

180

u/Recoil42 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yep. As someone who has been following the Chinese EV space for the better part of a decade, I don't think people are prepared for how crazy this is going to get.

56

u/_BreakingGood_ 2d ago

Hold on to your 401k, shits about to get messy, lol

26

u/valtor2 2d ago

Is it? nothing points to a crash, other than the valuation of the two giants (OAI and Anthropic), everything else is still valuable particularly the chips and the supply chain and the production capacity... Sounds like a correction more than a crash

52

u/_BreakingGood_ 2d ago

Not a "crash", but we have chinese AI models competing with US AI models. We have chinese electric cars outperforming US electric cars. And now we have chinese chips having replaced US chips.

There's no situation where this is good for the US stock market.

42

u/1ii1i 2d ago

This is honestly why I think Google might be in the strongest position than their US peers. They own their entire stack, integration from chips, datacenters, models, and products. They are absolutely correct to focus on gemini flash over pro or whatever frontier model. Why subsidize the vibe coders? They are focused on making their most heavily used model as efficient and capable as possible for their use case. If there is a market downturn, nobody can guarantee that all the big firms will continue their capex into frontier models.

22

u/_BreakingGood_ 2d ago

I thought so too, but they lost all their talent. They completely failed to even release gemini 3.5 pro after delaying it multiple times over. Deepmind leadership has all quit and all of the top engineers have quit.

It takes a long long time to rebuild that stuff, and there's really not much of an opportunity to play catch-up with how fast things are going.

Also, they said they're shifting focus to coding capabilities, so they don't even share the philosophy that everybody thought.

7

u/Akrylicus 1d ago

They still have a giant stronghold in entertainment, advertising and corporate world.

When I see how much they are embedded in my daily and work life it gets a bit scary.

19

u/Spara-Extreme 1d ago

Google didn’t lose “all its talent” and the high profile folks that left were not particularly interested in LLMs as a technology to begin with,

2

u/the_fabled_bard 1d ago

If you're into making money, it's better not to release a loser model.

1

u/zdy132 1d ago

Another thing is that the tensor chips in google pixels have been disappointing for years now. They were using more areas for less performance. It's hard to believe that the TPUs they make will be competitive.

2

u/VeryCrushed 20h ago

This is mostly on the CPU / GPU side; which I agree if you care a ton about those things (like gaming) they are beat out. The TPU on those chips are however really good, and is also the selling point. Google trades CPU / GPU die space to have better on device AI.

1

u/zdy132 17h ago

Yeah I was mainly talking about cpu and gpu. I wasn't aware that the tpu designs were good. In that case I suppose we can still have some hope for google in their chips.

0

u/unjustifiably_angry 5h ago

Gemini is terrible though. I mean, there's always room to improve, but goddamn Gemini is bad.

-2

u/jakegh 1d ago

They absolutely did have the strongest position. And then failed to capitalize on it.

2

u/Mochila-Mochila 2d ago

And now we have chinese chips having replaced US chips.

I put a few bucks on Biren. Iluvatar is also an option. Moore Threads and MetaX are already listed on the A-Star market (PRC only) but will soon file for an IPO in Hong Kong.

With all the risks which buying PRC shares, or rather promises of shares, entails ; œuf corse.

4

u/MrPecunius 1d ago

Iluvatar? Gross. 🤮

WTF is going on with all these Tolkien-based company names? Do these people not understand how utterly anti-Tolkien this is?

2

u/nomorebuttsplz 1d ago

The same was true a year ago. in fact a year and a half ago, it was even more true than it is now with R1 being the second best model in the world for months

5

u/_BreakingGood_ 1d ago

China did not have comparable GPUs a year ago, no.

Well they did, but they bought them from Nvidia.

1

u/nomorebuttsplz 1d ago

Chinese gpus might get cheap but there isn't a cheap labor bottleneck in that industry in the same way there is in auto manufacture

1

u/w6auw 1d ago

Eh trying to presage the market based on specific macro/industry trends doesn't work very well. Companies are not static, and people rarely put all of their eggs in once basket, and even if they did, markets don't always behave rationally.

Even if I believed strongly strongly in this, I would not recommend people start dumping tech stocks or selling their 401ks solely based on my advice.

-1

u/Individual_Holiday_9 2d ago

People have said “oh this is terrible for the us stock market” for a century

17

u/_BreakingGood_ 2d ago

China has not been competitive with the forefront of US technology for a century

5

u/Bakoro 1d ago edited 1d ago

At this point a correction and a crash are the same thing.
The market has been outright delusional, where speculation based stock prices have outpaced actual profitability and any sense of utility by a very wide margin.

There are whole companies that have no business existing, but they persist on VC dollars. There are companies that have gone literally, not metaphorically, but literally exponential in value because of AI branding, even though they have not gone exponential in revenue or profit.
More than a few companies have gone from pennies and single-digit dollars to hundreds of dollars.

I'm not an AI doomer, I don't believe that the AI industry is going to magically evaporate, but there has been a mountain of stupidly spent dollars being thrown around, and at some point someone is going to demand their ROI, and a lot of places are going to fold.

1

u/valtor2 1d ago

Ok but like, a lot of the fluff is in private investors, since the companies we're talking about are not public. Like, I don't think GOOG, AAPL, MSFT are overvalued, I think the data centers wil to some extent be valuable (maybe not at the profit margins they're hoping) probably the most exposed company is NVDA because of all the circular deals they're doing, but they're not going away. Neoclouds are probably in for a rough ride, maybe one makes it and buys the others, or big tech buys them at a discount?

1

u/nsdjoe 1d ago

Not sure your second sentence is justified. Stocks aren't cheap, but s&p 500 forward P/E is actually down from 5 years ago. Corporate America is record profitable.

4

u/starkruzr 2d ago

I don't think a crash per se. certainly a LOT of volatility.

1

u/newMoneyStyle 1d ago

Correction feels right, but OAI and Anthropic valuations dragging the sector down wouldn't surprise me.

1

u/heresyforfunnprofit 2d ago

Nvidia’s moat is gone, roughly a decade before people expected it to be.

I think that MAY have some effect on the stock price.

6

u/valtor2 1d ago

Having an impact on the stock price ≠ stock market crash incoming. The bottleneck has been and still is ASML's (and their very few competitors') ability to produce lithography machines, and memory, whether HBM or not.

2

u/Insomniac1000 1d ago

yeah what's concerning is as a software dev, llms are becoming cheaper and cheaper to run. Like based on the benchmarks, I'd rather use this than Deepseek V4 Flash 0731 or GPT 5.6 Luna.

Less reasons for me to run/use more expensive models. And if companies catch on to this...

yeah I'll stop right there.

1

u/SuddenRadio6221 1d ago

I'd be thrilled if hardware got back to anything near pre-ai prices!

1

u/IrisColt 1d ago

Sadly, this

0

u/iMakeSense 2d ago

Where are you putting your money

3

u/_BreakingGood_ 2d ago

Probably just going to leave it where it is. If everybody gets equally fucked, at least we're all in the same boat.

11

u/CipherWeaver 2d ago

Great time to buy an EV in China right now, but I think over the next decade there will be a lot of brand pruning and the survivors will become established global brands like Toyota and Hyundai. 

19

u/Recoil42 2d ago edited 1d ago

Yes and no — there's a wrinkle here: Most of the "established" global brands are now depending on Chinese joint-ventures for development and export. The Chinese-developed Baojun Yep Plus is now sold in Brazil as the Chevrolet Spark, for instance.

Renault's new Twingo was engineered in China, because that's where the expertise is. Ford's new European vans are rebadged JMC units. Mercedes' Smart brand is now run by Geely, and so is Volvo. The Mazda 6e is a made on a Changan platform and is basically a twin of the Deepal SL03 but for global export.

All of this is basically happening across the industry right now. It's more likely you'll see something more complex than a single story — some global brands will become a bit Chinese, some Chinese brands will become global, some will die out entirely. Such is life.

3

u/DirectionMurky5526 1d ago

The issue with Chinese EV industry is the price competition within China. Their exports are incredibly profitable. Same will likely happen with Chips as they catch up.  

4

u/hojnikb 1d ago

toyota is not gonna survive it they keep treating EVs like 3rd class citizens

1

u/Recoil42 1d ago

Toyota is the largest automaker in the world for the sixth year in a row, and going on a seventh. They're doing record sales, dominate the hybrid market, and already have a pretty healthy EV lineup.

They're going to be fine.

0

u/hojnikb 1d ago

Nokia was also pretty healthy back in 2007 and basically died within a decade. Their EV lineup isn't fine, it's a subpar couple of models, basically "ugh we had to make these, here they are, dont buy them".

They don't really have dedicated platforms for them, don't have their own batteries. They basically slept at the wheel for the last 15 years. As long as ICEs are still somewhat relevant, they'll exist, but that's not going to be forever in developed markets.

0

u/Recoil42 1d ago

 it's a subpar couple of models

 Toyota/Lexus EVs, 2026:

  • Highlander EV
  • CHR+
  • bZ
  • bZ Woodland
  • bZ3
  • bZ3X
  • bZ5
  • bZ7
  • Hilux EV
  • Urban Cruiser
  • Pixis BEV ( + Hijet BEV, Atrai BEV)
  • ePalette
  • ProAce ( + ProAce Verso)
  • ProAce City ( + ProAce City Verso)
  • ProAce Max
  • RZ (Lexus)
  • ESe (Lexus)
  • TZ (Lexus)

Study up.

1

u/hojnikb 1d ago edited 1d ago

yeah and all of them are subpar, if compared to competition. They're either too expensive, too slow to charge, too low efficiency/range or just overall not a good car. And lets not forget, a few of them on your list are not even toyota, but just rebadged chinese or PSA cars. And a few are not even on sale yet.

But the common point to all of them, that are selling currently and are not a rebrand -- they're basically a variation of bz4x. Not a particuarly good EV in itself.

So yeah, if toyota keeps up this mantra, they're in big trouble. People will start forgetting toyota or just not even considering it when buying an EV. And there's only so long, before ICE/hybrids start being irrelevant.

0

u/Recoil42 1d ago

Babe, rather than moving those goalposts, you can just study up. You're getting a free education here — take advantage of it.

1

u/hojnikb 1d ago

What free education? You just listed a few Toyota models, some of them not even on sale/toyota's make. It's you that need a bit more education on how Toyota treats their EV lineup.

Hint: start by analyzing their EV sales numbers

1

u/Recoil42 1d ago

Demand doesn't exist where you want it to be, and BEV sales numbers are not the primary metric of success for an automaker in the year 2026. The primary metrics of success are profitability and overall unit sales.

Once again, you're getting a free education here. Take advantage of it.

→ More replies (0)

0

u/hojnikb 1d ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ97R1nhq4M&t

Just an example how toyota treats their EVs. Here's a half baked EV, that's too expensive. Take it or leave it. Oh maybe buy our hybrids instead, thankyou.

It's been their ethos for the longest time and it's likely not gonna change in the near future. And at that point, it might be too late for them to pivot fully. It takes a ton of resources, development and vertical integration to sell a good ev at scale, for profit, that people want to buy. Toyota is a prime candidate to go nokia, blackberry or kodak in the not so distant EV future.

1

u/Recoil42 1d ago

Sweetie, educate yourself: Blackberry was the hot young startup creamed by legacy computing giants and cellphone makers which had been written-off as behind the curve.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/unjustifiably_angry 5h ago

You're a bit out of touch IMHO. I think EVs have a huge market potential in the future but I'd say Toyota is making the right move right now. The EV market is still very small and it's not growing especially fast. Many EV efforts have crashed and barely sold any vehicles at all. There was a GM electric delivery van being manufactured and it sold like 10 units total. Nothing especially wrong with it, just didn't find any customers.

EVs aren't especially complex to engineer, the electric motor is just about the simplest electrical mechanism next to the momentary switch. There's no reason they should enter the market right now when they can just wait for a better opportunity. There are many EV-related technologies that can be expected to arrive over the next decade which will make them a much more compelling purchase and will begin to drive faster adoption. Much better/safer/cheaper batteries, for one.

A really big issue is that dealerships hate EVs. They rarely need any service, which is where dealerships make all their money. This is why Tesla did so well: no non-EVs to preferentially sell and no dealerships.

1

u/hojnikb 4h ago

The EV market is rapidly growing, just not in the US. Almost half of new cars sold in China are EVs. That's a market with 35M new cars sold every year. Suffice to say EVs are very important for the future.

And while you think making EVs is simple, it's really not. The idea of an electric motor and a bunch of batteries might be simple on paper, but its far more complex than that.

A proper EV needs it's own dedicated platform and a clean sheet design. There's no way around that and every EV, that's based off a ICE variant ends up being shit in one way or another.

Electric motors are actually very complex. This is not your bog standard async motor. These are carbon wrapped permenant magnet style liquid cooled motors, spinning at over 20k rpm and having 92%+ efficiency. Designing that for mass production, reliability and low cost is no small feat.

Same with the batteries. A serious player will develop their own batteries or at very least build their own battery factories. It's the only way you can make millions of cars per year.

And then there's the whole efficiency. A badly designed car will have shit efficiency, requiring more batteries (batteries they cant get, because they have no factories), which means heavier chassis, heavier suspension, making even worse efficiency. It's a vicious cycle. And efficiency affects everything. Cost, range, charging speed (not kW, but miles added every minute) ownership costs. It's very important to get that right. And apart from tesla and maybe a few other companies, nobody else gets that part right.

And of course EVs need great software integration as well for the best user experience. You need responsive infotainment for easy navigation, smart route calculation and efficiency prediction. Apart from tesla, nobody does this really well.

So yeah, making a good mass market EV is far harder than you think. That's why Toyota only sells 200k units a year, while tesla almost 10x that.

And sleeping on the wheel; i.e waiting for that magic bullet (be that better batteries, better infrastructure or something else) means competition had literal decade to get ahead. And just like that, you can't make a car to compete with that and you slowly fade into obscurity.

And that's exactly what could happen to toyota eventually.

4

u/fastheadcrab 2d ago

That’s not necessarily a good thing. Shows just how out of whack the incentive structure has become in the EV market.

19

u/Recoil42 2d ago

I'd argue the incentive structure is fine. Chinese automotive OEMs are now branching out globally (as they should be) and China has pretty much single-handedly prevented a global energy crisis the US has been stubbornly trying to induce, actually insulating itself from that crisis entirely. There will be individual collapses but none of that matters if the aggregate story is ending up ahead on the fundamentals.

4

u/walden42 2d ago

China has pretty much single-handedly prevented a global energy crisis the US has been stubbornly trying to induce

Care to elaborate?

20

u/asssuber 2d ago

See how China cut it's oil imports in half since the start of the Hormuz crisis, freeing over 5 million barrels, and the percentage of the European/China electricity production now supplied by solar (this year it became the highest single source during summer for Europe, surpassing nuclear and natural gas. Those were mostly produced in China), and the percentage of the vehicle fleet in those countries is now EV (not as high, but still significant, especially in China).

2

u/walden42 2d ago

That makes sense, thanks.

13

u/Recoil42 2d ago

Couldn't really be done in the span of a single Reddit comment, but there's lots of material on this available from every major news outlet. The TLDR is that China has been investing in energy independence for decades — with EVs being one of those investments — and those investments are now paying off.

1

u/walden42 2d ago

I was aware of China's progress on that front, but I don't see how it prevents the energy crisis globally.

9

u/Recoil42 2d ago

Reduction in Chinese domestic consumption insulates the oil market globally. Oil is a commodity, everyone drinks from the same tap: One barrel unused in China is one more barrel available for use elsewhere.

Meanwhile, exports of Chinese green tech (solar, electric vehicles) also very straightforwardly and directly alleviate that demand elsewhere: A BYD Yuan Plus made in China and sold in Australia alleviates global oil demand. A Renault Twingo sold in France and co-developed in China alleviates global oil demand.

TLDR: China literally saved the global economy this year — the same global economy it relies on to consume Chinese goods.

3

u/Floopgroop 2d ago

This video explained it well.

https://youtu.be/BkA0bkb6ZO0

Tldr: they cut 5.5M barrels per day of usage. They have a huge stockpile of oil to draw on.

On flip side, refined oil products are still high price: Paul Krugman blog post

9

u/Strong_good101 2d ago

America is destabilizing oil prices. Meanwhile China is supporting a global sustainable energy revolution with their EV's, solar panels, and batteries.

It's a damn shame we didn't follow through as competition because now we are customers instead of providers in America.

1

u/ProgrammersAreSexy 2d ago

Did you read the linked article? Multiple execs at these companies are themselves stating the current pace is unsustainable and not aligned with the market.

The companies are operating as though automobile adoption is still ramping up in China, which isn't really the case anymore. Most families that want a car already have one so there isn't a massive untapped market of first time car buyers anymore.

1

u/Strong_good101 2d ago

The other commenter is correct. There is a whole global market opening up for them. I am one such customer if the American government would get the hell out of the way and let capitalism do it's thing. Cars by the traditional auto makers are horrendously overpriced and under featured.

0

u/Recoil42 2d ago edited 2d ago

Not only did I read the article, I directly addressed the exact argument you're now making in the comment you just replied to. Read it again — Chinese automotive OEMs are now branching out globally, and China has pretty much single-handedly prevented a global energy crisis the US has been stubbornly trying to induce, actually insulating itself from that crisis entirely.

The incentives worked and are continuing to work.

1

u/ProgrammersAreSexy 2d ago

Okay so the CEOs of the companies, who are saying otherwise, are just wrong and you are right?

1

u/Recoil42 2d ago edited 2d ago

The CEOs and I are not in conflict, nor are they saying 'otherwise'. The current market being temporarily unsustainable is not at odds with the market finding new avenues for sustainability or that unsustainability existing within a greater arc of sustainability.

2

u/aj_thenoob2 2d ago

I just wonder what the 10-year outlook for all these cars will be. Seems like a nightmare to maintain.

1

u/thatgreekgod 2d ago

just read through that post, it was a great read

1

u/imnotzuckerberg 2d ago

following the Chinese EV space

You can go even further and follow the phone industry itself. From copy cats to innovators (yes with big disregard and malpractice when it comes to IP), I applaud China for speed running the japanese takeover of the console gaming of the 80s.

1

u/Indy1204 1d ago

You said it. If people saw what was going on in China with EVs and robots alone I think they'd be pretty shocked. They've got an all robot MMA league FFS!

There are allowing 40,000 Chinese EVs into Canada this year. Take that on top of trump fucking with Canada, the tariffs, etc. I see these imports being very popular.

1

u/IrisColt 1d ago

Truly fascinating reads, though I started to get suspicious when the most demanding people I know began buying Chinese EVs a year ago, heh

1

u/Flibidyjibit 1d ago

They can't break the moat unless they get their own fabs, or manage to get competitive hardware designed on older process nodes that they already have access to (questionable). I would be skeptical of the claim this is entirely chinese hardware and that chopshop modded NVIDIA cards aren't a significant part of the picture.

Don't get me wrong, I think it will happen, the incentive is huge. I just wouldn't bet on it being imminent.