In this study, we report that the long non-coding RNA LINC00152 is significantly upregulated in GBC tissues and cell lines. The high LINC00152 levels correlated positively with tumor status progression, lymph node invasion and TNM stage advancement. Functionally, we revealed that LINC00152 dramatically promoted cell proliferation, metastasis and inhibited apoptosis in vitro. In vivo, LINC00152 overexpression significantly promoted tumor growth. Mechanistic analyses indicated that LINC00152 could participate in the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT signaling pathway, and transcription factor specificity protein 1 (SP1) induces its overexpression.