2026 in LLMs (so far)

At the WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America, Simon Willison delivered a keynote reviewing the major breakthroughs and trends in large language models during 2026. The year began with significant advancements in coding agents powered by models like Claude Opus 4.5 and GPT-5.1, fundamentally shifting how developers write code and sparking intense productivity periods known as "AI mania". This era witnessed the rise of personal AI assistants referred to as "Claws," exemplified by OpenClaw, and the introduction of advanced models such as Gemini 3.1 Pro and Claude Fable 5. Despite rapid commercial adoption and increased token usage, the industry faced notable security challenges, government export controls, and shifting corporate strategies. Ultimately, these rapid technological advancements redefined software engineering and proved that defining precise project goals has become an essential superpower.