OpenAI and Anthropic are about to launch new AI models for a world changed by OpenClaw.

Anthropic has its "Claude Mythos" model, and OpenAI is preparing to launch its "Spud" model. Both companies are touting these as extremely powerful models that represent the next big leap for LLMs. And if that's the case, despite the codenames, these models could roll out as Claude 5.0 and ChatGPT 6.0.

There are several factors to watch:

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the new Spud model is so powerful that it will "really accelerate the economy"
• Anthropic CEO Dario Modei said that the company is already testing Claude Mythos with early access customers
• A leaked Anthropic blog post obtained by Fortune stated that the Anthropic team believes its model is so powerful that it could pose unprecedented cybersecurity risks, and that's one of the reasons why Anthropic has been warning government officials and giving organizations early access to the model in order to help them prepare
• OpenAI's Spud could also be the foundation of the company's new "superapp" that will reportedly combine the desktop apps for ChatGPT, Codex (its coding tool), and Atlas (its web browser) into one streamlined experience with advanced AI agent capabilities
• As another nod to how powerful OpenAI believes its next model will be, the company reportedly renamed the product organization led CEO of Apps Fidji Simo to the "AGI Deployment" team

One reason these models are advancing so rapidly and reaching a higher stage of development is that the labs are now using the models themselves to help build and improve the models. Sam Altman mentioned this when the company released GPT-5.3-Codex. This is a process called recursive self‑improvement (RSI), and it has long been anticipated as the point where AI systems will make a dramatic leap forward.

Our Deeper View

We've already seen AI hit a new gear in 2026 with personal AI agents unleashing a wave of automation, productivity gains, and software improvements. That was led, of course, by OpenClaw. And now we're seeing the benefits OpenClaw has unlocked being adopted by AI and software companies across the tech industry. That agentic movement is about to get supercharged by these new models. But as we give the agents more rocket fuel, it's important to remember that they're non-deterministic systems that can go rogue and do things we didn't expect. That's going to make it more important than ever that we build good harnesses and systems to contain these agents to protect against the worst possible outcomes.