Could HappyHorse be Z-video in disguise, from Alibaba?
A mysterious model that suddenly dominated benchmarks is confirmed to be from Alibaba's Taotian Group.
A previously mysterious AI model called HappyHorse-1.0, which suddenly topped the Artificial Analysis video generation leaderboard, has been confirmed to be a project from Alibaba's Taotian Group. The model, developed by a team led by Zhang Di—formerly the head of Kuaishou's competing Kling project—features 15 billion parameters and uses an efficient 8-step inference process. Its GitHub repository states the intention to release it as fully open-source, which would provide a significant boost to the open-source video AI ecosystem.
This revelation ends weeks of speculation in the AI community, where the model was previously rumored to be the elusive "Z-video" project. The confirmation that a major Chinese tech giant like Alibaba is behind this high-performing, open-source model signals a strategic shift. It positions Alibaba to directly challenge both closed commercial models like OpenAI's Sora and other Chinese competitors like Kuaishou's Kling, potentially accelerating the entire field of AI video generation through open collaboration.
- Confirmed to be from Alibaba's Taotian Group, developed by former Kling project lead Zhang Di
- Features 15 billion parameters and uses an efficient 8-step inference process
- Planned to be fully open-source, providing a major benchmark for the community
Why It Matters
A high-performing, open-source video model from a tech giant could democratize AI video generation and accelerate innovation.