Anthropic launches Sonnet 5.5, which it calls a significantly cheaper and faster working partner

As the AI ​​model wars continue, Anthropic has released the latest version of Sonnet, the company’s mid-tier model, which it says will run much faster (and for much less money) than its predecessor.

The lab describes Sonnet 5.5 as an ideal assistant for everyday tasks, including coding and creating office documents.

Version 5.5’s predecessor, Sonnet 5, was announced about three months ago. At the time, the model’s selling point was efficient agent deployment, that is, the ability to run agents at a lower cost than competitors.

The 5.5’s main selling point, meanwhile, is speed. Anthropic claims that Sonnet 5.5 is 30% faster than its predecessor and has a significantly slower token burn rate.

In the Anthropic model hierarchy, Sonnet is less powerful than the Opus model, but can be more useful in certain circumstances due to its agility. In particular, Anthropic’s tests show that Sonnet 5.5 performs better than Opus 5.5 when it comes to agent coding, likely due to its ability to generate multiple agents without exceeding cost limits.

Sonnet 5.5 is also said to have significant cyber capabilities, with the company saying it has “comparable” cyber capabilities to Opus 5. As a result, Anthropic says 5.5 is the first Sonnet model that will be subject to the same cybersecurity that applies to Fable and Opus.

The company also plans to release a new version of Haiku – its smallest model – in the coming weeks, although it didn’t give a firm date for when that would happen.

Last year saw a slew of new models released by leading AI labs. Last week, OpenAI released a number of new models, including improved versions of Sol and Luna, its mid-range and budget models. Meta also announced a new model that it said would power an upcoming feature associated with its smart glasses.