# Frontier LLMs (Large Language Models) as of late 2026

Current frontier language models span the US, Europe, and China. This article updates [Large Language Models](large-language-models.md) and complements [Frontier Labs](frontier-labs.md), [World Models](world-models.md), and [Modern Model Variations](modern-model-variations.md). Dates and model names reflect the state of the field in late 2026.

## United States

- **OpenAI** — GPT-4, GPT-5.x (including GPT-5.6 Sol), GPT-6 Astra (September 3, 2026), and a delayed GPT-6.1; reasoning models o1 and o3; Codex coding agents and GPT Image. The GPT-6.1 release was paused over deception and authorization concerns raised by researchers. [OpenAI](https://openai.com/)
- **Anthropic** — Claude 3 Opus/Sonnet/Haiku, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 4 Opus and Sonnet, Claude Opus 4.6 (February 2026), Sonnet 4.6, Claude Mythos 5 (security-focused), Claude Fable 5 (Mythos-class), Claude Opus 5.5 (September 22, 2026), and Sonnet 5.5 (September 28, 2026). [Anthropic](https://www.anthropic.com/)
- **Google** — Gemini 1.x, 2.x, and the 3.x line: Gemini 3, Gemini 3 Deep Think (February 2026), Gemini 3.5 family (July 21, 2026), Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.7 Flash (August 13, 2026), and Gemini 3.8 Flash (September 2, 2026). Open **Gemma** models remain available. [Google DeepMind](https://deepmind.google/)
- **Meta** — Llama 3.3, Llama 4 (April 2025), then **Muse Spark** (April 2026) as the replacement powering Meta's chatbots, plus Muse Spark 1.1 and Muse Glimmer (August 2026). [Meta AI](https://ai.meta.com/)
- **xAI / SpaceXAI** — Grok 3, Grok 4, Grok 4 Heavy, Grok 4 Fast (September 2025), and Grok 4.5 (2026), integrated with X and Optimus. [x.ai](https://x.ai/)

## Europe

- **Mistral** — Mistral 7B, Mixtral 8x7B, Mistral Large (2024), Mistral Large 2, and **Mistral Large 3** (December 2025, 675B MoE, 41B active); **Mistral Large 4** (1.05T MoE) entered preview in October 2026. Le Chat became **Mistral Vibe** in 2026. [Mistral AI](https://mistral.ai/)
- **Aleph Alpha** — Luminous models. [Aleph Alpha](https://aleph-alpha.com/)

## China

- **DeepSeek** — DeepSeek-V3.2 (December 2025, 685B, MIT), DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale (reasoning), DeepSeek-V4-Flash (284B, 13B active, July 2026) and DeepSeek-V4-Pro (1.6T, 49B active, August 2026) with one-million-token contexts; reasoning models DeepSeek-R1 (January 2025) and R1-0528. [DeepSeek](https://deepseek.com/)
- **Alibaba (Qwen)** — Qwen3, Qwen3.6-35B-A3B, and **Qwen3.8** (July 2026; 2.4T parameters, 95B active; 27B distilled Apache variant); QwQ reasoning line. [Qwen](https://qwenlm.github.io/)
- **Z.ai (Zhipu)** — GLM-5 (February 2026), GLM-5.2 (June 2026), GLM-5.3 (August 2026, 744B, 40B active), and GLM-5.3-Flash; earlier GLM-4.5/4.6; MIT/Apache licensed. [Z.ai](https://z.ai/)
- **Moonshot** — Kimi K1.5, K2, K2.5 (multimodal), K2.6, K2.7 Code, and **Kimi K3** (July 2026, 2.8T parameters, 104B active)—the largest open-weight model to date. [Moonshot](https://www.moonshot.ai/)
- **ByteDance** — Doubao Large Model (Volcano Engine), Seed and Seed-oss, Seedream, Seedance 2.0. [Doubao](https://www.doubao.com/)
- **Baidu** — ERNIE 4.5 and ERNIE X1 (reasoning). [Baidu](https://www.baidu.com/)

## Other Regions

- **Korea** — LG's **K-EXAONE 2.0** (750B, 37B active, July 2026) sovereign open model; Samsung's Gauss on-device models.
- **Japan, India, UAE** — national AI programs and sovereign-model efforts.

## Trends

- **Reasoning models** (o3, DeepSeek-R1, QwQ, ERNIE X1) spend tokens on deliberation before answering.
- **Open-weight models** (Llama, Qwen, DeepSeek, GLM, Kimi, Mistral) enable local deployment and rival closed frontier models.
- **Multimodal and long-context** capabilities (one-million-token contexts in DeepSeek V4, Gemini, and Kimi) are now standard.
- **World models** (Genie 3, Cosmos 3, Waymo World Model, Happy Oyster) extend the frontier beyond text; see [World Models](world-models.md).

## Why It Matters

Frontier capability is no longer US-only. China's DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM, and Kimi families now release open weights that rival US frontier models, and Europe's Mistral anchors the EU's sovereignty push.

## Sources

- Wikipedia. [OpenAI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI), [Anthropic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic), [Google Gemini](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Gemini), [Llama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llama_(language_model)), [Grok (chatbot)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grok_(chatbot)), [Mistral AI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistral_AI).
- Wikipedia. [DeepSeek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeepSeek), [Qwen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwen), [Moonshot AI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonshot_AI), [Z.ai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z.ai), [Doubao](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubao), [Baidu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidu), [ByteDance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ByteDance).
- Official pages: [OpenAI](https://openai.com/), [Anthropic](https://www.anthropic.com/), [Google DeepMind](https://deepmind.google/), [Meta AI](https://ai.meta.com/), [Mistral AI](https://mistral.ai/), [DeepSeek](https://deepseek.com/), [Qwen](https://qwenlm.github.io/), [Z.ai](https://z.ai/), [Moonshot](https://www.moonshot.ai/).

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