Ethical Stack.

Z.ai API

Hosted GLM API for applications and compatible clients.

Score calculation

(3 + 3 + 1 + 7) ÷ 4 = 3.5

4 of six dimensions rated. Unrated dimensions are excluded from the average.

Full scoring method ↗
Setup details

Z.ai developer API endpoints; consumer chat and ZCode Coding Plan endpoints are assessed separately.

What fits your needs

Z.ai developer API endpoints; consumer chat and ZCode Coding Plan endpoints are assessed separately.

Where it fits

Use an API key and choose a model ID in an application or compatible client.

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Tradeoffs to expect

Route and limits

The API is a separate contract from Z.ai consumer chat; the API DPA controls prompt handling and should be read for the intended account.

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How to switch

Try it

Create a developer account, issue a key, select an endpoint and model, then test a small request.

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Practical questions

Before relying on it

Confirm the API DPA, endpoint region, token pricing, retention, and model ID in the developer account.

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Energy practices

3/10↑

Public docs establish the Z.ai hosted developer API route; they don’t show its request-level physical footprint. The API supports selecting GLM models and request-generation parameters; these configure workload, but no physical savings are published.

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This practices and disclosure grade covers Z.ai hosted developer API. Public product/API documentation establishes how this route operates and the listed user controls, but gives no measured per-request energy, emissions or water. A corporate electricity claim is not allocated to this route.

1 + 1 reporting + 0 electricity + 1 controls = 3/10. This grades documented practices and transparency.

Request-level electricity, emissions, water use, serving utilization and any route-specific clean-power matching are not reported for Z.ai hosted developer API.

Reporting1/3
Official documentation describes the Z.ai hosted developer API operating boundary, but does not publish a dated quantitative energy, emissions or water result for this route.
Electricity sourcing0/3
The reviewed sources do not map Z.ai hosted developer API to a site-specific electricity mix or time-matched clean-power supply.
Resource controls1/3
The API supports selecting GLM models and request-generation parameters; these configure workload, but no physical savings are published.

Water disclosure

Water reporting has not been assessed for this choice.

Training data

—Depends on the model↑

The API supports multiple model versions; training-data rights belong to the selected GLM release, not to the API interface.

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The API terms and reference establish access to changing GLM endpoints, not the provenance or permissions for each model’s training data. Submitted API prompts and training data for a released model are separate questions.

Selected model/version, training sources, rights, data filtering, and creator controls remain model-specific.

Your data & privacy

—Not enough evidence↑

The developer API has separate terms and a Data Processing Addendum; the individual-user privacy policy explicitly excludes business/API content.

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Z.ai’s individual privacy policy expressly directs developers to separate API terms and a Data Processing Addendum. The API reference documents the inference route, but the DPA content and route-specific prompt retention were not established in this review, so no numeric privacy score is assigned.

Current API DPA, default retention, training use, region-specific processing, and account controls need review before classifying prompt handling.

Openness

3/10↑

A hosted API with model selection and standard request interfaces; the serving implementation remains provider-controlled.

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The API offers documented endpoints and model IDs for integration, but not the hosted serving runtime or a self-hosted API deployment package. This score describes the service route, not public GLM weights.

Documented API interface, without provider-controlled serving runtime access.

Individual GLM weight releases may be usable separately under their own licenses.

Worker protections

1/10↑

Z.ai’s company and GLM model materials reviewed don’t show employment protections, worker voice, supplier labor standards or labor assurance.

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The sources reviewed provide product, terms, or corporate information but no qualifying disclosure about conditions for data annotators, evaluators, moderators, or infrastructure workers. This is a disclosure gap within the checked materials, not evidence that workers are mistreated or that no labor policy exists. These findings concern the developer or operator. This product’s use in a particular deployment needs separate evidence.

1 + 0 pay & conditions + 0 worker voice & remedy + 0 evidence & follow-through = 1/10. This grades documented worker safeguards, not a measured rate of mistreatment.

Worker counts, locations, pay, labor protections, worker voice mechanisms, supplier coverage, and independent audit or remediation outcomes were not established in the sources reviewed.

Pay & conditions0/3
Reviewed sources provide no qualifying disclosure of worker conditions; this zero is limited to the checked material and is not an exhaustive claim.
Worker voice & remedy0/3
No qualifying worker-voice mechanism or documented worker grievance outcomes were disclosed in the reviewed material.
Evidence & follow-through0/3
No independent labor audit results, worker-level corroboration, or remediation outcomes were disclosed in the reviewed material.
Workers rubric ↗

Military ties

7/10Not established↑

No Z.ai defense contract or deployment is identified; legacy ChatGLM2 restrictions are not generalized to current GLM models.

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Z.ai’s current company and GLM-5.3 materials reviewed don’t confirm a defense contract or military deployment. A military-purpose clause in a separate legacy ChatGLM2 license is not generalized to GLM-5.3 or the company; no relevant restriction is credited without model-specific evidence. These findings concern the developer or operator. This product’s use in a particular deployment needs separate evidence.

7 base + 0 safeguard adjustment = 7/10 (0 of 9 safeguard points; every 3 adds 1). No military relationship was established in the cited sources. This ranks above known defense ties without claiming a verified clean record.

Complete contract texts, undisclosed customers, end-use restrictions, actual workload deployment, and independent compliance or outcome reports are unavailable in the reviewed public material.

Use restrictions0/4
The reviewed terms or policy material contains no qualifying military-use restriction beyond general lawfulness/export compliance; this zero is limited to the reviewed source set.
Enforcement & oversight0/3
No military-specific review, enforcement, or remedy mechanism was disclosed in the sources reviewed.
Relationship disclosure0/2
No military-specific relationship or military-specific transparency policy was disclosed in the materials reviewed; this is a scoped disclosure finding.

The reviewed Z.ai company and model materials do not identify a defense contract or military deployment. A ChatGLM2 model license contains a military-purpose restriction, but that legacy model-specific license is not treated as a blanket current company policy.

Military rubric ↗

BDS targets

Not listed↑

We did not find Z.ai among the named targets in the two official BNC campaign lists. This is a limited list check, not BDS approval.

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Z.ai is not a named target in the checked lists, but BDS uses selective campaigns, so absence cannot establish a clean record. Running downloaded weights locally is a different decision from paying the developer or a cloud host; check the host as well. These findings concern the developer or operator. This product’s use in a particular deployment needs separate evidence.

This review covers the named targets in the BNC consumer/pressure guide and No Tech campaign, not every BDS campaign, local group, investment or supplier. Lists and ownership can change. A company’s absence from these lists is not an endorsement or proof that it has no relevant relationships.

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