# Z.ai’s GLM-Legal scores 19.2% on Harvey LAB, outpacing Claude Fable 5 and Kimi K3

Digest AI · Generative AI & Models · published 2026-10-13T08:19:54Z

Canonical: https://digestai.news/story/z-ais-glm-legal-scores-19-2-on-harvey-lab-outpacing-claude-fable-5-and

## Summary

Z.ai released **GLM-Legal**, a legal-focused AI model built on its **GLM-5.3-Flash** base, achieving a **19.2% all-pass rate** on the **Harvey Legal Agent Benchmark (LAB)**—nearly triple the **6.7%** of its base model. The model targets contract review, evidence analysis, and compliance research, scoring **#7 of 79** on Vals AI’s leaderboard, just **2.3 points behind** the top-ranked **Muse Spark 1.2** at **25.42%**. It also matches frontier models like **Claude Fable 5 (11.25%)** and **Kimi K3 (12.92%)** on LAB while costing **$0.15 per test**, compared to **$19.23** for Claude Fable 5’s equivalent run.

Access is restricted to an **application-only API**, with no published pricing or open weights. Z.ai claims **parity with frontier models on LegalBench** (86.23% vs. Claude’s 88.56%), but performance drops on **Legal Research Bench (41.83%)**, below its base model’s **45.19%**. The model runs on **Z.ai’s hosted API** and is not yet available for self-hosting. Developers can prototype using the base model (**$0.15/$0.50 per 1M tokens**) before swapping to GLM-Legal, though no release date for broader access has been set.

## Key points

- GLM-Legal scores **19.2%** on Harvey LAB, up from **6.7%** for its base model, ranking **#7 of 79** behind 6 Meta/Google models.
- Costs **$0.15 per test** on Harvey LAB, **128x cheaper** than Claude Fable 5’s **$19.23** per equivalent run, per Vals AI.
- API access is **application-only**, with no published pricing, open weights, or self-hosting support yet.

## Why it matters

GLM-Legal’s cost-efficiency and strong LAB scores challenge frontier models like Claude Fable 5, offering legal teams a **lower-cost alternative** for contract and compliance tasks. Its **gated access** and **slow runtime (1h12m per task)** may limit immediate adoption, but its **domain specialization** could redefine legal AI workflows if pricing and availability improve.

## Sources

1. [Z.ai GLM-Legal Beats Claude Fable 5 and Kimi K3 on Harvey LAB](https://marktechpost.com/2026/10/13/zai-glm-legal-harvey-lab-legal-ai-model) (MarkTechPost, 2026-10-13)

Part of the developing story: [Z.ai's AI Legal Battle Unfolds](https://digestai.news/thread/z-ai-s-glm-5-3-model-becomes-available-on-amazon-bedrock) (2 stories)

## Cite

Digest AI, "Z.ai’s GLM-Legal scores 19.2% on Harvey LAB, outpacing Claude Fable 5 and Kimi K3", 13 October 2026, https://digestai.news/story/z-ais-glm-legal-scores-19-2-on-harvey-lab-outpacing-claude-fable-5-and

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