Anthropic Unveils Advanced AI Models, Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4

Anthropic, a company backed by Amazon and Alphabet, has unveiled its latest generation of AI models, Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4. These models are designed for advanced reasoning, coding, and AI agent tasks. The new models represent a significant leap forward in AI capabilities, particularly in handling complex, long-running tasks and workflows.

Claude Opus 4 is hailed as the company's most powerful model to date, and is positioned as the best coding model globally. It excels in maintaining consistent performance over extended periods, making it ideal for tasks that require sustained attention and precision. This model is particularly noteworthy for its ability to autonomously code for up to seven hours, demonstrating an unprecedented level of efficiency and reliability.

Claude Sonnet 4, on the other hand, is a major upgrade from its predecessor, Claude Sonnet 3.7. It offers superior coding and reasoning capabilities, with enhanced accuracy and efficiency. This model is designed to handle a wide range of tasks, from simple coding assignments to complex reasoning problems, making it a versatile tool for developers and AI researchers alike.

In addition to the new models, Anthropic has also introduced several updates to enhance their functionality. One of the key updates is the expansion of thinking and tool usage in the testing phase. Both models can now utilize tools such as web searches during the extended thinking process, allowing Claude to switch between reasoning and tool usage to improve the quality of responses. This feature enables the models to follow instructions more precisely and display stronger memory capabilities when developers allow access to local files.

Anthropic has also announced that Claude Code is now fully open. Furthermore, the company has released four new features on the Anthropic API to assist developers in creating more powerful AI agents. These features include the code execution tool, MCP connector, Files API, and a caching prompt feature that can last up to an hour. These updates are designed to provide developers with more robust tools to build advanced AI applications.

The pricing for the new models remains consistent with the previous Opus and Sonnet models. Opus 4 is priced at 15 dollars/75 dollars per million tokens for input/output, while Sonnet 4 is priced at 3 dollars/15 dollars. This pricing strategy ensures that developers can access the latest AI technology without significant cost increases.

Anthropic's latest release positions the company in a competitive landscape within the AI industry. Key competitors include Google, supported by Alphabet, and OpenAI, backed by Microsoft. Recently, Google announced updates to its Gemini AI models, highlighting Gemini 2.5 Pro's superior performance across various metrics in LMArena. OpenAI also launched GPT-4.5, its largest and most conversational model to date. Additionally, Meta Platforms introduced the latest Llama 4 series of open-source large language models.

Other notable participants in the AI field include several companies from China, such as Baidu, Alibaba, and DeepSeek. These companies are also making significant strides in AI development, contributing to the rapid advancements in the industry. Anthropic's new models are expected to further intensify the competition, driving innovation and pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve.