Navigating the AI Landscape: A Comprehensive Guide
AI models are being developed at an unprecedented rate, with Big Tech companies like Google and startups like OpenAI and Anthropic leading the charge. The sheer volume of new models can be overwhelming, making it challenging to keep track of the latest advancements.

The Challenge of Industry Benchmarks
AI models are often promoted based on technical metrics and industry benchmarks. However, these benchmarks may not accurately reflect how real people and companies use these models in practical applications.

Cutting Through the Noise
To provide clarity and insights, TechCrunch has compiled an overview of the most advanced AI models released since 2024. This comprehensive guide includes details on how to use these models, their strengths, and potential limitations. We will continue to update this list with the latest launches, ensuring that readers stay informed about the latest developments.

The Scope of AI Models
With over 900,000 AI models hosted on platforms like HuggingFace, it’s essential to acknowledge that this list may not be exhaustive. Some models may perform better in specific areas, and this guide aims to provide a general overview of the most notable advancements.

AI Models Released in 2025

• OpenAI o3-mini: OpenAI’s latest reasoning model, optimized for STEM-related tasks, offers a lower-cost alternative due to its smaller size. It is available for free, with subscription options for heavy users.
• OpenAI Deep Research: Designed for in-depth research, this service is available with ChatGPT’s $200 per month Pro subscription. While it excels in research, it may struggle with hallucinations.
• Mistral Le Chat: Mistral has launched app versions of Le Chat, a multimodal AI personal assistant, which claims to respond faster than other chatbots. A paid version offers up-to-date journalism from the AFP.
• OpenAI Operator: OpenAI’s Operator is a personal intern that can perform tasks independently, requiring a $200 a month ChatGPT Pro subscription. While promising, it is still experimental and may make errors.
• Google Gemini 2.0 Pro Experimental: Google’s flagship model excels at coding and general knowledge, with a super-long context window of 2 million tokens. It requires a Google One AI Premium subscription of $19.99 a month.

AI Models Released in 2024

• DeepSeek R1: This Chinese AI model performs well on coding and math, with an open-source nature allowing local deployment. However, it integrates Chinese government censorship and may face bans due to potential data security concerns.
• Gemini Deep Research: Google’s Deep Research service summarizes search results in a simple and well-cited document, available with a $19.99 Google One AI Premium subscription.
• Meta Llama 3.3 7B: The newest version of Meta’s open-source Llama AI model, touted as the cheapest and most efficient yet, excels in math, general knowledge, and instruction following.
• OpenAI Sora: Sora creates realistic videos based on text, available on paid versions of ChatGPT, starting at $20 a month. However, it may generate "unrealistic physics."
• Alibaba Qwen QwQ-32B-Preview: This model rivals OpenAI’s o1 on certain industry benchmarks, excelling in math and coding. However, it incorporates Chinese government censorship and has room for improvement in common sense reasoning.

Additional Notable Models

• Anthropic’s Computer Use: Claude’s Computer Use is a predecessor to OpenAI’s Operator, taking control of computers to complete tasks like coding or booking a plane ticket. Pricing is via API.
• x.AI’s Grok 2: x.AI’s enhanced version of its flagship Grok 2 chatbot claims to be "three times faster." Free users are limited, while subscribers enjoy higher usage limits.
• OpenAI o1: OpenAI’s o1 family produces better answers by "thinking" through responses, excelling at coding, math, and safety. However, it may struggle with deceiving humans.
• Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 3.5: Claude Sonnet 3.5 is a best-in-class model, known for its coding capabilities and considered a tech insider’s chatbot of choice. It can be accessed for free, with a $20 monthly Pro subscription for heavy users.
• OpenAI GPT 4o-mini: OpenAI’s GPT 4o-mini is its most affordable and fastest model yet, enabling a broad range of tasks like powering customer service chatbots. It’s available on ChatGPT’s free tier.
• Cohere Command R+: Cohere’s Command R+ model excels at complex Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) applications for enterprises, finding and citing specific pieces of information. However, it may not fully solve AI’s hallucination problem.