What actually mattered: Oct 1 to 9

Five things actually mattered in AI since October 1. Here they are, with what I think of each.

1. GPT-6 is live for everyone

• Anyone who has a paid ChatGPT plan now has access to GPT-6, and it’s starting to roll out to free users as well.
• My take: It’s cool, but I’m no longer in love with GPT-6. Claude Opus 5.5 is far better for 99% of people, and way cheaper.

2. Claude Haiku 5.5 is here, and it’s cheap

• Anthropic released its small, fast model at about 75 percent cheaper pricing than the previous version of Haiku.
• My take: This is a new class of very cheap, but super capable model, with very few compromises. I personally still wouldn’t daily-drive it, but for folks watching their AI spending, it’s an incredible option. I’d also recommend you try asking your Opus 5.5 agents to use Haiku as a sub-agent to speed up work and save on costs.

3. Anthropic opens its security tools

• Anthropic gave more defenders access to its advanced security tools . Its earlier partners found at least 129,000 verified software flaws between April and July.
• My take: It’s very good that they’re expanding this program. My big worry with the original program was how few companies got access to it. We’ll see how it goes!
• Related:Axios reports that Anthropic, OpenAI and other labs are privately planning for “the day after” an AI-caused catastrophe, most likely a cyberattack on banking, the internet, or power and water. It’s... a little terrifying.

4. Google shows off Gemini 4 Argon

• Google announced Gemini 4 Argon , but only a small group of security defenders can use it. There’s currently no release date for everyone else.
• My take: Looks great on paper, but based on previous Gemini models, I’ll believe it when I see it. Gemini models tend to show great benchmarks, and look fantastic on paper, but fall apart in the real world.

5. OpenAI will watermark ChatGPT’s text in the EU

• OpenAI is adding an invisible watermark to ChatGPT’s text for users in the EU over the coming weeks, however, it’s not super strong, and very easy to bypass.

— Matt

What should I write about next? Vote or suggest a topic →