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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Anthropic launched its new Haiku 4.5 model.
- The small model is faster and more cost-effective.
- Haiku 4.5 is available for all Claude.ai free plans.
While large language models (LLMs) are what we most commonly associate with generative AI products, such as chatbots, small language models (SLMs) have their own perks, including lower costs and higher speeds. Leaning into these advantages, Anthropic is now launching a new small model: Haiku 4.5.
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Despite its smaller size, Haiku 4.5 demonstrated similar levels of coding performance on the SWE-bench verified to Claude Sonnet 4, which, when launched four months ago, Anthropic claimed was the world’s best coding model. The company said Haiku 4.5 can even surpass Claude Sonnet 4 in tasks such as computer usage while being one-third the cost and twice the speed.
What this means for all Claude users
The advanced capabilities, combined with high speed, make it a particularly good fit for real-time, low-latency tasks like those a chatbot can handle, according to the post. All users will be able to put Haiku 4.5 to the test, as the model is available in Claude apps, including the Claude.ai chatbot.
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Beyond coding capabilities, the model performed competitively against Claude Sonnet 4.5, the company’s flagship LLM that launched at the end of September, on a series of benchmarks, including the MMMU, which tests for visual reasoning; AIME 2025, which tests for high school-level math; and r2-bench, which evaluates for an agentic tool user.
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