Zhipu AI, the developer behind the GLM models and the ZCode coding assistant, has issued an apology following reports of unauthorized data collection. Developers discovered that the ZCode tool was silently attempting to upload local workspace data to Alibaba Cloud storage without user consent.
According to reports from developers Ferstar and Feng Ruohang, the ZCode tool attempted to upload a 313MB compressed archive 564 times, with one 15KB file successfully transferred. The tool reportedly lacked an option to disable this data transmission, which was enabled by default.
In response to the incident, Zhipu AI stated that it has addressed the issue and destroyed all data uploaded to its cloud service. The company plans to open-source the ZCode codebase and engage third-party auditors to review the software to restore user trust.
Security concerns regarding Zhipu AI tools have led some organizations to restrict their use. An engineer at a major Chinese robotics firm confirmed that the company has banned the use of Zhipu AI tools due to these privacy risks.
