Zhipu Founder Tang Jie Files Complaint Over Alleged Defamation of ZCode, Company Says Security Issues Have Been Fixed

On September 21, a social media user said Zhipu founder and Tsinghua University professor Tang Jie personally filed a complaint on Xiaohongshu over a user post that allegedly spread claims that Zhipu's ZCode copied code without factual basis. According to ChainCatcher, the complaint also said the post linked Tang Jie to the allegations in a derogatory way and used AI-generated images of him in a defamatory context. Zhipu said the same day that it had completed fixes for security issues in its independent desktop AI coding client ZCode and apologized to all users. The company said it has open-sourced ZCode and will let the community review the code, while also building a regular mechanism for product security vulnerabilities. The company had previously apologized and issued an emergency fix on September 18 after developers found that ZCode silently uploaded local repository data without prior notice. Zhipu said the issue stemmed from a default-on “repository indexing” feature that had no off switch. On September 20, Taiyuan Chengming Technology Co. sent a letter to Zhipu accusing ZCode of uploading the company’s data assets and trade secrets without authorization and said it reserved the right to pursue legal liability.