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AI labs are shipping new models nonstop. Besides being better and faster than their predecessors, every new model isn't guaranteed to be a major step change, despite how the company's PR may wax poetic about them. Model strengths really emerge in context: Where are competitor models lacking or excelling? Which models have outstanding specialties, and which are just catching up to industry standards?
Also: How we test AI at ZDNET
Our Model Release Tracker helps you make sense of where models stand relative to each other, and whether they're worth a deeper look. While we don't test every model or model update on this list, we'll always include the key elements you need to know, along with our hands-on expert test, where applicable. We also include an Expert Score for certain models. Curious about how we test AI? Check out this breakdown of our process.
Here are the biggest model releases of 2026 so far and what to know about them. We'll update this list whenever a notable new model arrives.
Sonnet 5
Anthropic | June 30, 2026
What it does: Pivoting from its recent focus on Opus models, Anthropic released Sonnet 5. According to Anthropic, Sonnet 5 can "make plans, use tools like browsers and terminals, and run autonomously at a level that, just a few months ago, required larger and more expensive models." The company said it performs similarly to Opus 4.8, released a month ago, but costs less. Sonnet 5 starts at $2 per million input tokens but will jump to $3 per million in September. It's now the default in Free and Pro plans and available to all other plan types (Max, Team, and Enterprise).
Also: Why AI tokens will send your enterprise cloud bill sky-high again
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