Hong Kong-listed Z AI is tapping equity and debt markets for $5.01 billion to finance the computing capacity and research required for its next-generation GLM base model. The company will raise roughly $2 billion through 21.97 million new shares at HK$714 each, a 9.96% discount to Friday's HK$793 close. An additional $3.01 billion will come from zero-coupon convertible bonds due in 2027, which are convertible into 26.37 million shares at HK$892.50. Shares of the AI lab fell 9% following the announcement.

The new financing follows a $4 billion share placement in July, where shares were priced significantly higher at HK$1,588. Roughly $2.6 billion of those previous proceeds remained unspent at the end of August. Z AI will allocate 60% of the current funds to its "Fully Self Training" system and the compute needed to train and serve the next model, while 15% is designated for business expansion and strategic investments.