Claude Opus 4.5 is the best model currently available.

No model since GPT-4 has come close to the level of universal praise that I have seen for Claude Opus 4.5.

It is the most intelligent and capable, most aligned and thoughtful model. It is a joy.

There are some auxiliary deficits, and areas where other models have specialized, and even with the price cut Opus remains expensive, so it should not be your exclusive model. I do think it should absolutely be your daily driver.

Image by Nana Banana Pro, prompt chosen for this purpose by Claude Opus 4.5

Table of Contents

It's The Best Model, Sir.
Huh, Upgrades.
On Your Marks.
Anthropic Gives Us Very Particular Hype.
Employee Hype.
Every Vibe Check.
Spontaneous Positive Reactions.
Reaction Thread Positive Reactions.
Negative Reactions.
The Lighter Side.
Popularity.
You’ve Got Soul.

It's The Best Model, Sir

Here is the full picture of where we are now (as mostly seen in Friday's post):

You want to be using Claude Opus 4.5.

That is especially true for coding, or if [...]

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Outline:

(00:59) It's The Best Model, Sir

(03:18) Huh, Upgrades

(04:50) On Your Marks

(09:12) Anthropic Gives Us Very Particular Hype

(13:35) Employee Hype

(15:40) Every Vibe Check

(18:16) Spontaneous Positive Reactions

(21:44) Reaction Thread Positive Reactions

(28:39) Negative Reactions

(30:34) The Lighter Side

(31:27) Popularity

(33:26) You've Got Soul

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First published:
December 1st, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HtdrtF5kcpLtWe5dW/claude-opus-4-5-is-the-best-model-available

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

Table comparing performance benchmarks across Claude family models and other AI models.

Bar graph showing multilingual coding performance across programming languages, titled

Four digital landscape illustrations showing desert, futuristic city, mountains, and suburban house.

Python code with mathematical comments about polynomial problem solving.

Discord conversation between janus and Opus 4.5 APP discussing soul-spec presence and gradient directions in tests.

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

“Claude Opus 4.5 Is The Best Model Available” by Zvi

LessWrong (30+ Karma)

“Claude Opus 4.5 Is The Best Model Available” by Zvi