The weekly strip · 23 issues · page 1 of 2
Model watch
What shipped across the labs, with dates, prices and limits from the release notes.
- Issue 33
10 October 2026 · Model watch · 7 min read
AI coding agents in late 2026: Claude Code, Codex and Antigravity compared
As of 10 October 2026: what Claude Code, OpenAI Codex and Google Antigravity are, which models and plans sit behind them, and how to run a fair bake-off.
- Claude Code
- Codex
- Antigravity
- coding agents
- pricing
- Issue 32
10 October 2026 · Model watch · 7 min read
Open-weight models in late 2026: where Llama, Mistral and Qwen stand
As of 10 Oct 2026: Qwen3.8 and Mistral Small 4 are open, Mistral Large 4 is API-only for now, and Meta has nothing newer than Llama 4. Licences and when to self-host.
- open weights
- Llama
- Mistral
- Qwen
- licences
- Issue 31
10 October 2026 · Model watch · 7 min read
The Claude API speed setting: what 'fast' does and when to pay for it
As of 10 October 2026, speed: fast gives Opus 5.5 up to 2.5x output tokens per second at twice the price. What it does, what it breaks, and when it pays.
- Claude API
- fast mode
- latency
- pricing
- Claude Opus 5.5
- Issue 29
10 October 2026 · Model watch · 6 min read
Claude Haiku 5.5 rejects temperature: sampling controls are disappearing
As of 10 October 2026, Haiku 5.5, Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5 return 400 for non-default temperature, top_p and top_k. What to do about determinism and variety.
- Claude Haiku 5.5
- temperature
- API design
- sampling parameters
- migration
- Issue 27
10 October 2026 · Model watch · 7 min read
Price per million tokens, October 2026: Claude, Gemini and GPT-6 compared
Input, cached input and output per million tokens for the current Claude, Gemini and OpenAI models, with a source for every row and the footnotes that change the bill.
- LLM pricing
- Claude
- Gemini
- GPT-6
- cost optimisation
- Issue 26
10 October 2026 · Model watch · 6 min read
Model deprecation calendar, Q4 2026: Anthropic, Google and OpenAI dates
Every dated retirement from Anthropic, Google and OpenAI between October and December 2026, with migration targets, the soft dates to ignore, and a CI check.
- deprecation
- Claude
- Gemini
- OpenAI
- migration
- Issue 25
10 October 2026 · Model watch · 6 min read
Gemini deep research agents: what replaces the 23 October shutdown
The December 2025 Deep Research agent shuts down on 23 October 2026. What the two April replacements do, what they cost per task, and a migration checklist.
- Gemini deep research
- deprecation
- agents
- Interactions API
- Issue 20
10 October 2026 · Model watch · 7 min read
TypeSafe AI raises $870M: the lab betting on models that answer, not write
TypeSafe came out of stealth on 15 September with Jev, a System One model that returns typed decisions. What the category is, what is claimed, and who should care.
- TypeSafe
- Jev
- System One
- funding
- LLM pricing
- Issue 19
10 October 2026 · Model watch · 7 min read
Agentic video understanding in Gemini: up to 88% fewer tokens on long video
Gemini's agentic video mode loads only the frames, audio and transcript a prompt needs. What shipped, why 88% fewer tokens is not 88% off the bill, and a calculator.
- video understanding
- Gemini
- tokens
- LLM pricing
- Gemini 3.8 Flash
- Issue 18
10 October 2026 · Model watch · 6 min read
Lyria 3.5: full-length song generation and what it means for creative tooling
lyria-3.5 generates songs of a couple of minutes from text or images at $0.08 each. The API call, a draft-then-render workflow, and the licensing questions.
- Lyria 3.5
- music generation
- Gemini API
- Interactions API
- licensing
- Issue 17
10 October 2026 · Model watch · 6 min read
Google's Antigravity agent preview: what changed in the 09-2026 release
antigravity-preview-09-2026 replaced the 05-2026 agent on 17 September: renamed tools, line-range edits, token budgets. A migration checklist and a minimal call.
- Antigravity
- Gemini agents
- Interactions API
- migration
- Issue 15
10 October 2026 · Model watch · 7 min read
Claude Fable 5.1 and the Mythos tier: who needs a $50-per-million model
Fable 5.1 costs $10 in and $50 out per million tokens, 2.5x Opus 5.5. Where the premium can pay, how cached agent loops price out, and who can use Mythos 5.1.
- Claude Fable 5.1
- Claude Mythos
- Claude Opus 5.5
- LLM pricing
- agents