The CEO of a top Chinese AI startup has publicly challenged Elon Musk’s timeline for China’s frontier AI capabilities, asserting that the country will field a Fable 5-class model before next year — months earlier than Musk’s estimate.
During an exchange that quickly circulated across tech media, Musk estimated that Chinese AI firms would have a Mythos-level large language model by Q1 2027. Jie Tang, CEO of Beijing-based Z.ai — a direct rival to Anthropic — responded that China will achieve a Fable 5-class AI model “soon,” adding that it “won’t take that long,” according to Tom's Hardware.
The Fable 5 classification represents a tier of AI capability above Mythos, meaning Tang is claiming a leapfrog advance. Z.ai, which recently released its GLM 5.2 model, has been positioning itself as China’s answer to frontier Western labs. Musk’s original Q1 2027 prediction was seen as relatively bullish; Tang’s retort suggests internal Chinese development is accelerating even faster.
No specific technical benchmarks or release dates were provided by Tang, but the statement signals growing confidence among Chinese AI firms that they can close — or even surpass — the gap with U.S. leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic. The exchange comes amid tightening U.S. export controls on advanced chips to China, which have forced Chinese labs to innovate on efficiency.
Z.ai is expected to detail its next-generation model roadmap in the coming months, with industry watchers now watching for an official Fable 5-class launch before 2027.
