Glossary

Frontier model

One of the handful of most capable AI models at the leading edge at any given moment, built by the few labs that can afford to train them.

What it is

A frontier model is the most advanced large language model anyone has shipped right now. Training one costs hundreds of millions of dollars and runs on a data center of specialized chips, so only a short list of labs build them: OpenAI (ChatGPT), Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini), and a few others. "Frontier" is relative and it moves: today's frontier model is next year's baseline. The labs that keep shipping them get called frontier labs.

Why CEOs care

The frontier is where the leverage jumps. The current frontier model is the difference between AI you can hand real work and AI you have to babysit, which is why the paid top tier usually earns its price on tasks you can check. You are renting, not buying, and the lead changes vendors every few months, so the skill is running on whichever frontier model is best this quarter rather than marrying one product. The word now appears in regulation too: Trump's June 2 executive order singles out the "covered frontier model" for early government review.

Where you'll see it

In every "new model" headline and benchmark debate.
In the June 2 AI executive order and the oversight conversation around it.
Any time someone says "the frontier" or "frontier labs."

Full read

For the CEO-length version, see What is a frontier model?.

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