AI model releases by month
Data as of 2 Nov 2026 · last updated · by BenchLeader
BenchLeader tracked 23 AI models released in October 2026, 13 with open weights. The best new model by the BenchLeader Index was Gemini 4 Carbon by Google (68.9). In 2026 so far (January–October 2026), 261 tracked models were released; April was the busiest month, with 40.
Key statistics
Each statistic has its own link (#) to cite it directly.
- BenchLeader tracked 23 AI models released in October 2026; the best new model by the BenchLeader Index was Gemini 4 Carbon by Google, at 68.9 (BenchLeader, 2 Nov 2026). #
- 13 of October 2026's 23 releases with a known licence have open weights (BenchLeader, 2 Nov 2026). #
- BenchLeader tracked 261 models released in January–October 2026; April was the busiest month, with 40 (BenchLeader, 2 Nov 2026). #
- Among tracked models released in 2026, Google released the most (30), ahead of Alibaba (28) and OpenAI (24) (BenchLeader, 2 Nov 2026). #
- 55% of tracked 2026 releases with a known licence have open weights: 135 of 244 (BenchLeader, 2 Nov 2026). #
- None of the top 10 ranked models has open weights; the best open-weights model, Kimi K3 by Moonshot AI, is in the top 50 with an Index of 62.1 (BenchLeader, 2 Nov 2026). #
- 6 of the top 50 ranked models have open weights (BenchLeader, 2 Nov 2026). #
- Claude Opus 5.5 by Anthropic leads the BenchLeader Index at 69.2, released in September 2026 (BenchLeader, 2 Nov 2026). #
Releases by month
Every model BenchLeader tracks with a public release date, counted once at its best-scoring configuration. Ranked means it has a BenchLeader Index; the best model is the highest Index among that month's releases.
| Month | Tracked | Open weights | Closed | Licence unknown | Ranked | Best new model (Index) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 23 | 13 | 10 | – | 16 | Gemini 4 Carbon 68.9 |
| September 2026 | 32 | 14 | 17 | 1 | 16 | Claude Opus 5.5 69.2 |
| August 2026 | 36 | 22 | 13 | 1 | 18 | Gemini 3.7 Flash 62.2 |
| July 2026 | 22 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 13 | GPT-5.6 Sol 65.4 |
| June 2026 | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 9 | Claude Fable 5 66.6 |
| May 2026 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 7 | Gemini 3.5 Flash 62.5 |
| April 2026 | 40 | 22 | 11 | 7 | 21 | GPT-5.5 64.4 |
| March 2026 | 31 | 11 | 18 | 2 | 14 | GPT-5.4 63.3 |
| February 2026 | 31 | 15 | 14 | 2 | 18 | GPT-5.3-Codex 62.9 |
| January 2026 | 13 | 10 | 3 | – | 3 | Kimi K2.5 58.7 |
Earlier months (12)
| Month | Tracked | Open weights | Closed | Licence unknown | Ranked | Best new model (Index) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | 31 | 23 | 8 | – | 18 | GPT-5.2 60.1 |
| November 2025 | 19 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 9 | Gemini 3 Pro 60.2 |
| October 2025 | 18 | 15 | 3 | – | 5 | MiniMax-M2 52.6 |
| September 2025 | 26 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 17 | GPT-5-Codex 58.6 |
| August 2025 | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 13 | GPT-5 Pro 59.8 |
| July 2025 | 23 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 9 | Grok 4 58.4 |
| June 2025 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 8 | o3-pro 53.5 |
| May 2025 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 5 | Claude Opus 4 55.2 |
| April 2025 | 25 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 18 | o3 61.0 |
| March 2025 | 17 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 12 | Gemini 2.5 Pro 54.5 |
| February 2025 | 15 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 6 | Grok 3 52.5 |
| January 2025 | 20 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 6 | o3-mini 50.7 |
Month by month, 2026
October 2026
BenchLeader tracked 23 models released in October 2026 (open weights: 13 of 23; 16 ranked). The best by Index was Gemini 4 Carbon (Google, 68.9). Meta and NVIDIA released the most (4 each).
September 2026
BenchLeader tracked 32 models released in September 2026 (open weights: 14 of 31 with a known licence; 16 ranked). The best by Index was Claude Opus 5.5 (Anthropic, 69.2). MBZUAI and OpenAI released the most (5 each).
August 2026
BenchLeader tracked 36 models released in August 2026 (open weights: 22 of 35 with a known licence; 18 ranked). The best by Index was Gemini 3.7 Flash (Google, 62.2). Alibaba released the most (5), ahead of IBM (3).
July 2026
BenchLeader tracked 22 models released in July 2026 (open weights: 8 of 21 with a known licence; 13 ranked). The best by Index was GPT-5.6 Sol (OpenAI, 65.4). OpenAI released the most (4), ahead of Google (3).
June 2026
BenchLeader tracked 17 models released in June 2026 (open weights: 12 of 16 with a known licence; 9 ranked). The best by Index was Claude Fable 5 (Anthropic, 66.6). Anthropic and Cohere released the most (2 each).
May 2026
BenchLeader tracked 16 models released in May 2026 (open weights: 8 of 14 with a known licence; 7 ranked). The best by Index was Gemini 3.5 Flash (Google, 62.5). Cohere and Google released the most (2 each).
April 2026
BenchLeader tracked 40 models released in April 2026 (open weights: 22 of 33 with a known licence; 21 ranked). The best by Index was GPT-5.5 (OpenAI, 64.4). Google released the most (8), ahead of Alibaba (4).
March 2026
BenchLeader tracked 31 models released in March 2026 (open weights: 11 of 29 with a known licence; 14 ranked). The best by Index was GPT-5.4 (OpenAI, 63.3). Alibaba and NVIDIA released the most (5 each).
February 2026
BenchLeader tracked 31 models released in February 2026 (open weights: 15 of 29 with a known licence; 18 ranked). The best by Index was GPT-5.3-Codex (OpenAI, 62.9). Alibaba released the most (9), ahead of Google (5).
January 2026
BenchLeader tracked 13 models released in January 2026 (open weights: 10 of 13; 3 ranked). The best by Index was Kimi K2.5 (Moonshot AI, 58.7). Liquid AI and Upstage released the most (2 each).
Who released the most in 2026
| Provider | Tracked models released, January 2026–October 2026 |
|---|---|
| 30 | |
| Alibaba | 28 |
| OpenAI | 24 |
| NVIDIA | 14 |
| Anthropic | 13 |
| Zhipu AI | 10 |
| Meta | 9 |
| SpaceXAI | 8 |
| Ant Group | 7 |
| DeepSeek | 7 |
How these numbers are made
BenchLeader tracks 1,062 models; 304 have no public release date and are not counted by month. A model counts once, in the month of its release date, whatever its number of effort settings. Open weights means the provider published the weights; licence unknown means BenchLeader has no licence record for it. The current month is a running count.
These are the models BenchLeader tracks, not every AI model released anywhere: a model enters when a tracked benchmark publisher or provider lists it. The release watch lists each new model as it lands.
Use this chart
These counts are BenchLeader's own and free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit BenchLeader with a link to this page.
Embed code
<figure><a href="https://www.benchleader.com/stats/ai-model-releases"><img src="https://www.benchleader.com/stats/ai-model-releases.svg" alt="BenchLeader tracked 23 AI models released in October 2026, 13 with open weights." width="760"></a><figcaption>Source: <a href="https://www.benchleader.com/stats/ai-model-releases">BenchLeader</a>, CC BY 4.0</figcaption></figure>Citation
BenchLeader, “AI model releases by month”, data as of 2 Nov 2026, https://www.benchleader.com/stats/ai-model-releases.Questions people ask
- How many AI models were released in October 2026?
- BenchLeader tracked 23 AI models released in October 2026, 13 with open weights. The best new model by the BenchLeader Index was Gemini 4 Carbon by Google (68.9). Counts cover the models BenchLeader tracks, by release date.
- Which AI lab released the most models in 2026?
- Among the 261 tracked models released in January–October 2026, Google released the most (30), ahead of Alibaba (28) and OpenAI (24).
- What share of new AI models have open weights?
- 55% of tracked 2026 releases with a known licence (135 of 244). Open weights are rarer at the top: none of the top 10 and 6 of the top 50 ranked models.
- How does BenchLeader count releases?
- One row per model (its best-scoring configuration), counted in the month of its public release date. 304 of the 1,062 tracked models have no release date and are left out of the monthly counts. The current month is counted to date. Ranked means the model has a BenchLeader Index.
Related: release watch, LLM Wrapped 2026, best open-weights LLM, BenchLeader Index, all statistics.