Mistral goes big and open
A ~1-trillion-parameter open-weight model from Europe gives regulated buyers a self-hostable option — benchmarks still put it at 38, so test it on your own tasks first.
AI Radar · Segment
Models
New frontier and open-weight models, benchmarks, prices and the race between US, European and Chinese labs.
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Anthropic leads the benchmark; open weights trail by 12 points but cost a fraction
The frontier is a three-lab race — Anthropic (58 on the Intelligence Index), OpenAI and Google (53) — while Chinese open-weight models cluster at 44–46. Europe's answer, Mistral Large 4, is open but still behind on benchmarks. For most business tasks the decision is no longer 'which is smartest' but 'which is good enough at the lowest cost per task'.
This week
The price floor drops to $0.10
Claude Haiku 5.5 at $0.10 per million input tokens makes classification, routing and tagging at scale almost free — re-price any automation that was 'too expensive' last year.
This month
Opus 5.5 takes the top spot at lower cost
It matches Fable 5.1 on most tasks at 40% lower cost than Opus 5 and leads the Intelligence Index at 58 — frontier quality is getting cheaper every quarter.
China's open models go global
Qwen alone has 151,448 derivatives on Hugging Face; open weights from China are becoming the default in emerging markets. Check licences and export-control exposure before you build on them.
What to watch next
- Whether OpenAI or Google answer Opus 5.5 before year-end
- Independent benchmarks of Mistral Large 4 once weights are fully released
- US moves on open-weight models after Kimi K3
What to do
Run a two-model setup: a cheap fast model (Haiku-class, ~$0.10/M tokens) for volume and a frontier model only where the task needs it. Re-benchmark every quarter — rankings move faster than contracts.
Always on
The numbers that define the segment
Trackers stay on screen until a newer, verified value replaces them.
The model market in four numbers
12 ptsgap between the best proprietary (58) and the best open-weights model (46)
205models evaluated, 82 of them open weights
$0.10per million input tokens: Claude Haiku 5.5, the new price floor for a frontier lab
46×cost difference per task between MiMo-V2.6-Pro ($0.13) and Opus 5.5 max ($5.98)
Source: Artificial Analysis — Intelligence Index v4.3.2 · LLM Stats · as of Oct 11, 2026
Who leads: best model per lab
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (10 evaluations). Best configuration per lab.
ProprietaryOpen weights
Source: Artificial Analysis — Intelligence Index v4.3.2 · as of Oct 11, 2026
Speed: output tokens per second
Median output speed of each model's API.
Source: Artificial Analysis — Intelligence Index v4.3.2 · as of Oct 11, 2026
Intelligence vs. cost: where the value is
X: cost to run the full index per task (USD, log scale). Y: Intelligence Index. Top-left = best value.
ProprietaryOpen weightsValue frontier
Source: Artificial Analysis — Intelligence Index v4.3.2 · as of Oct 11, 2026
Key context
Still shaping the segment
Signals scored 9+ or structural shifts stay here for 90 days.
Models
OpenAI rolls out GPT-6 'Astra' with built-in cyber guardrails
Released first to vetted business users, then to paid ChatGPT plans and the API. OpenAI positions it as able to operate a whole computer autonomously, with limits on its most advanced cyber capabilities.
Sep 3, 2026 · USBloomberg Government ↗
Models
DeepSeek V4 lands as open weights and runs on Huawei Ascend chips
Two versions (Pro and Flash) with 1M context. China's open models keep closing the gap while reducing dependence on Nvidia — a structural shift in the model race.
Apr 24, 2026 · CNThe Register ↗
Signals
Ranked by relevance
Badges show how long each signal stays: this week, this month, key context or archive.
Models
Mistral opens public preview of Large 4, a ~1-trillion-parameter open-weight model
Europe's flagship lab promises downloadable weights by the end of October, a 1M-token context and aggressive API pricing. A credible EU-trained alternative matters for data-sovereignty buyers.
Oct 6, 2026 · FRThe Next Web ↗
Models
Anthropic ships Claude Haiku 5.5: 1M context and effort controls from $0.10 per million tokens
The small, fast model closes the 5.5 family. Pricing this low makes high-volume classification and routing almost free — the economics behind news triage, ticket routing and document tagging just changed.
Oct 7, 2026 · USLLM Stats ↗
Models
Claude Opus 5.5 matches Fable 5.1 on most tasks at 40% lower cost than Opus 5
Frontier capability keeps getting cheaper: input drops to $4 and output to $20 per million tokens. Projects that were too expensive in spring are worth re-quoting.
Sep 22, 2026 · USDeepLearning.AI — The Batch ↗
Models
Chinese open-weight models are winning the Global South; Qwen counts 151,448 derivatives on Hugging Face
Foreign Policy argues that free, adaptable Chinese models are becoming the default in emerging markets. For companies, open weights mean cheaper customisation — with licence and export-control checks.
Sep 21, 2026 · CNForeign Policy ↗
Models
OpenAI rolls out GPT-6 'Astra' with built-in cyber guardrails
Released first to vetted business users, then to paid ChatGPT plans and the API. OpenAI positions it as able to operate a whole computer autonomously, with limits on its most advanced cyber capabilities.
Sep 3, 2026 · USBloomberg Government ↗
Models
DeepSeek V4 lands as open weights and runs on Huawei Ascend chips
Two versions (Pro and Flash) with 1M context. China's open models keep closing the gap while reducing dependence on Nvidia — a structural shift in the model race.
Apr 24, 2026 · CNThe Register ↗
What we track
Frontier releasesOpen-weight modelsChinese labsBenchmarks & evalsPricing per tokenSafety & alignment research
Key players
AnthropicOpenAIGoogle DeepMindMetaMistralDeepSeekAlibaba QwenZhipuMoonshotxAI
Why it matters for your business
Each release changes what is possible and what it costs. We translate launches into one question: does this change what your business should build or buy?
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