Timeline of AI Models Cheat Sheet

Below is a timeline of all AI models from some of the major vendors. Note, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. Assume up-to the publishing date.

Date	Vendor	Model / family	Type	Strengths / expertise
Jun-18	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-1	🧠 General · 🔬 Research	The foundational Generative Pre-trained Transformer: demonstrated transfer learning from large-scale language pretraining.
Feb-19	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-2	🧠 General	Major leap in generative text quality · ✍️ Writing · 💬 Conversation. Initially released cautiously because of misuse concerns.
May-20	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-3	🧠 General	🚀 Major scaling milestone · ✍️ Writing · 💻 Code generation · few-shot learning.
Nov-20	🟢 OpenAI	DALL·E	🎨 Image · 🔬 Research	Early major text-to-image model demonstrating image generation from natural-language prompts.
Jan-21	🟢 OpenAI	Codex	💻 Coding	Natural-language-to-code generation; strategically important precursor to modern AI coding assistants.
Jan-21	🟢 OpenAI	DALL·E public research announcement	🎨 Image	Text-to-image generation became a major strategic model category.
Jun-21	🟢 OpenAI	Codex API / Codex family	💻 Coding	💻 Software generation · natural-language programming · foundation for GitHub Copilot-era workflows.
Apr-22	🟢 OpenAI	DALL·E 2	🎨 Image	Major improvement in image realism, editing and variation generation.
Nov-22	🟢 OpenAI	Whisper	🎙️ Voice · 🔓 Open-weight	Strategically important speech-recognition family · transcription · multilingual speech recognition.
Nov-22	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-3.5 / ChatGPT generation	🧠 General · 💬 Conversation	💬 Conversational AI breakthrough that brought LLMs into mainstream consumer use.
Nov-22	🟦 Microsoft	VALL-E	🎙️ Voice · 🔬 Research	Important neural text-to-speech and voice-generation research model.
Mar-23	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-4	🌐 Multimodal · 🧠 General	Major frontier-model leap · 🧠 reasoning · 💻 coding · 👁️ vision capability in multimodal versions.
Mar-23	🟦 Microsoft	Kosmos-1	🌐 Multimodal · 🔬 Research	Microsoft’s early multimodal language-model research combining language and perception.
Mar-23	🟠 Anthropic	Claude 1	🧠 General · 💬 Conversation	Anthropic’s first major public Claude generation; emphasis on helpfulness and safety.
Apr-23	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-3.5 Turbo	🧠 General · ⚡ Efficient	Faster, lower-cost production/API-oriented GPT-3.5 generation.
Apr-23	🟧 Amazon / AWS	Amazon Titan foundation models	💼 Professional/enterprise	AWS’s strategically important in-house foundation-model family for Bedrock and enterprise applications.
Jul-23	🟠 Anthropic	Claude 2	🧠 General · 📚 Long-context	Major context-window expansion · writing · analysis · enterprise use.
Jul-23	🔷 Meta	Llama 2	🔓 Open-weight · 🧠 General	Major open-model ecosystem milestone · 🧩 customization · 🏠 self-hosting.
Sep-23	🟢 OpenAI	DALL·E 3	🎨 Image	Much stronger prompt following and integration with conversational generation.
Sep-23	🟠 Anthropic	Claude 2.1	🧠 General · 📚 Long-context	Improved reliability and a strategically important 200K-token context window.
Sep-23	🟦 Microsoft	Phi-1 / Phi-1.5 family	⚡ Small/efficient	Demonstrated Microsoft’s strategy around surprisingly capable small language models.
Nov-23	🟧 Amazon / AWS	Titan Image Generator	🎨 Image	AWS-native image-generation foundation model for Bedrock.
Nov-23	🟧 Amazon / AWS	Titan Multimodal Embeddings	🌐 Multimodal · 💼 Enterprise	Multimodal retrieval and enterprise search/RAG applications. (Amazon Web Services, Inc.)
Dec-23	🔵 Google / Google DeepMind	Gemini 1.0	🌐 Multimodal · 🧠 General	Google’s new flagship multimodal family, including Ultra, Pro and Nano tiers.
Dec-23	🔵 Google / Google DeepMind	Gemini Nano	⚡ Small/efficient · 📱 On-device	Strategically important efficient/on-device AI direction.
Dec-23	🟦 Microsoft	Phi-2	⚡ Small/efficient	Strong small-model capability for its size; important for local and constrained deployment.
Feb-24	🔵 Google / Google DeepMind	Gemma	🔓 Open-weight	Google’s major open-model family, optimized for customization and developer deployment.
Feb-24	🟢 OpenAI	Sora	🎥 Video	Landmark text-to-video model announcement; demonstrated long-form generative video capabilities.
Feb-24	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-4 Turbo	🧠 General · 📚 Long-context	Faster/cheaper GPT-4 generation with expanded context and stronger production usability.
Mar-24	🟠 Anthropic	Claude 3 Haiku	⚡ Small/efficient	Speed and affordability for high-volume workloads.
Mar-24	🟠 Anthropic	Claude 3 Sonnet	🧠 General · 💼 Professional	Balanced capability, speed and cost for professional work.
Mar-24	🟠 Anthropic	Claude 3 Opus	🏆 Frontier/high-end	Anthropic’s highest-capability Claude 3 model · reasoning · writing · analysis.
Apr-24	🔷 Meta	Llama 3	🔓 Open-weight · 🧠 General	Major open-weight release that significantly strengthened the Llama ecosystem.
Apr-24	🟦 Microsoft	Phi-3 family	⚡ Small/efficient · 🔓 Open-weight	Small models for edge, local and enterprise deployment; important strategic expansion of Phi.
May-24	🟧 Amazon / AWS	Titan Text Premier	💼 Professional/enterprise · 📚 RAG	Amazon’s most advanced Titan text model, optimized for enterprise RAG and agent applications. (Amazon Web Services, Inc.)
May-24	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-4o	🌐 Multimodal · 🎙️ Voice	Major “omni” model milestone: text, vision and near-real-time audio interaction in one family.
Jun-24	🟠 Anthropic	Claude 3.5 Sonnet	🧠 General · 💻 Coding	Major jump in 💻 coding, vision and professional reasoning; became highly influential for agentic coding.
Jun-24	🔵 Google / Google DeepMind	Gemini 1.5 Pro	🌐 Multimodal · 📚 Long-context	Major long-context milestone, including the 1M-token context direction.
Jun-24	🔵 Google / Google DeepMind	Gemini 1.5 Flash	⚡ Small/efficient · 🌐 Multimodal	Faster, cheaper multimodal model for scaled applications.
Jul-24	🔷 Meta	Llama 3.1	🔓 Open-weight · 🧠 General	Expanded open-weight frontier with major larger-scale models and enterprise/self-hosting momentum.
Jul-24	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-4o mini	⚡ Small/efficient · 🌐 Multimodal	Cost-efficient model designed to bring capable multimodal AI to high-volume applications.
Aug-24	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-4.5 preview-era research trajectory	🧠 General	Not counted here as a 2024 public GPT-4.5 release; the verified GPT-4.5 public release belongs later.
Sep-24	🟢 OpenAI	o1-preview	🧠 Reasoning	OpenAI’s major public reasoning-model transition: extended inference for harder math, science and coding problems.
Sep-24	🟢 OpenAI	o1-mini	🧠 Reasoning · 💻 Coding	More efficient reasoning model, especially important for STEM and coding workloads.
Sep-24	🔷 Meta	Llama 3.2	🔓 Open-weight · 🌐 Multimodal · 📱 Edge	Added strategically important vision models and smaller edge/mobile-oriented models.
Oct-24	🟠 Anthropic	Claude 3.5 Haiku	⚡ Small/efficient · 💻 Coding	Faster, lower-cost Claude optimized for production-scale workloads.
Oct-24	🟠 Anthropic	Claude 3.5 Sonnet (new)	💻 Coding · 🤖 Agentic	Important upgrade in coding, computer interaction and agent-style workflows.
Oct-24	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-Realtime / gpt-realtime	🎙️ Voice · 🌐 Multimodal	Native real-time speech interaction; strategically important for low-latency voice agents.
Dec-24	🟢 OpenAI	o1	🧠 Reasoning	Production reasoning model succeeding the preview generation; 🧠 reasoning · ➗ mathematics · 💻 coding.
Dec-24	🟧 Amazon / AWS	Amazon Nova family	🌐 Multimodal · 💼 Professional/enterprise	Nova Micro, Lite, Pro and Canvas/Reel families established AWS’s new broad foundation-model strategy. (Amazon Web Services, Inc.)
Dec-24	🔴 DeepSeek	DeepSeek-V3	🔓 Open-weight · 🧠 General · 💰 Cost efficiency	Large MoE open model emphasizing strong capability, speed and cost efficiency. (DeepSeek)
Jan-25	🔴 DeepSeek	DeepSeek-R1	🧠 Reasoning · 🔓 Open-weight	Major global reasoning/open-model milestone · 🧠 reasoning · ➗ mathematics · 💻 coding. Released with MIT licensing and distilled variants. (DeepSeek)
Feb-25	🟢 OpenAI	o3-mini	🧠 Reasoning · 💻 Coding	More accessible and efficient advanced reasoning.
Feb-25	🟠 Anthropic	Claude 3.7 Sonnet	🧠 Reasoning · 💻 Coding · 🤖 Agentic	Hybrid reasoning approach with extended thinking; major step toward modern coding agents.
Feb-25	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-4.5	🧠 General · ✍️ Writing	Large-scale general-purpose GPT release emphasizing natural interaction and knowledge work.
Mar-25	🔵 Google / Google DeepMind	Gemma 3	🔓 Open-weight · 🌐 Multimodal	Google’s next major open-model generation with stronger multimodal capabilities.
Mar-25	🔵 Google / Google DeepMind	Gemini 2.5 Pro	🧠 Reasoning · 🌐 Multimodal	Major reasoning-focused Gemini generation with “thinking” capabilities.
Apr-25	🟢 OpenAI	o3	🧠 Reasoning · 🤖 Agentic	High-end reasoning model with strong tool use, coding and complex multi-step problem solving.
Apr-25	🟢 OpenAI	o4-mini	🧠 Reasoning · 💻 Coding	Efficient reasoning model with strong STEM and tool-use capability.
Apr-25	🟧 Amazon / AWS	Amazon Nova Premier	🏆 Frontier/high-end · 🌐 Multimodal · 📚 Long-context	AWS’s most capable Nova model for complex planning, tool use and million-token-scale context. (Amazon Web Services, Inc.)
Apr-25	🔷 Meta	Llama 4	🔓 Open-weight · 🌐 Multimodal	Major new Llama generation emphasizing multimodality and MoE-scale architectures.
May-25	🟠 Anthropic	Claude Sonnet 4	💻 Coding · 🤖 Agentic	Strong software engineering and agentic task execution.
May-25	🟠 Anthropic	Claude Opus 4	🏆 Frontier/high-end · 💻 Coding · 🤖 Agentic	High-end agentic coding and long-running task execution.
Jun-25	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-Image-1 / GPT Image family	🎨 Image	OpenAI’s strategically important modern image-generation API family.
Jun-25	🟢 OpenAI	Codex agent generation	💻 Coding · 🤖 Agentic	Modern coding-agent evolution: autonomous software tasks rather than simply code completion.
Aug-25	🟠 Anthropic	Claude Opus 4.1	💻 Coding · 🧠 Reasoning	Incremental but strategically significant Opus improvement for advanced coding and agentic work.
Aug-25	🔴 DeepSeek	DeepSeek-V3.1	🤖 Agentic · 🧠 Reasoning · 🔓 Open-weight	Hybrid Think/Non-Think inference and stronger tool use; DeepSeek explicitly positioned it as a step toward the agent era. (DeepSeek)
Sep-25	🟠 Anthropic	Claude Sonnet 4.5	💻 Coding · 🤖 Agentic	Major Sonnet-class upgrade for autonomous coding and professional workflows.
Sep-25	🔴 DeepSeek	DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp	🔓 Open-weight · 📚 Long-context	Experimental DeepSeek Sparse Attention architecture targeting more efficient long-context inference.
Oct-25	🟠 Anthropic	Claude Haiku 4.5	⚡ Small/efficient · 💻 Coding	Fast and economical modern Claude generation.
Nov-25	🟠 Anthropic	Claude Opus 4.5	🏆 Frontier/high-end · 💻 Coding · 🤖 Agentic	Strong frontier agentic and coding capability.
Nov-25	🔵 Google / Google DeepMind	Gemini 3 / Gemini 3 Pro	🧠 Reasoning · 🌐 Multimodal · 🤖 Agentic	Major new Gemini generation combining advanced reasoning, multimodality and agentic capability. (blog.google)
Dec-25	🔵 Google / Google DeepMind	Gemini 3 Flash	⚡ Small/efficient · 🌐 Multimodal · 🧠 Reasoning	High-speed model combining strong reasoning with image, audio and video understanding. (blog.google)
Dec-25	🔴 DeepSeek	DeepSeek-V3.2	🧠 Reasoning · 🤖 Agentic · 🔓 Open-weight	Reasoning-first successor with integrated thinking during tool use. (DeepSeek)
Dec-25	🔴 DeepSeek	DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale	🧠 Reasoning · ➗ Mathematics · 🔬 Specialized	High-end reasoning variant focused on extremely difficult mathematics and competition-style reasoning. (DeepSeek)
Dec-25	🟧 Amazon / AWS	Nova 2 Sonic	🎙️ Voice · 🌐 Multimodal	General-availability speech-to-speech foundation model for real-time conversational AI. (Amazon Web Services, Inc.)
5-Feb-26	🟠 Anthropic	Claude Opus 4.6	🏆 Frontier/high-end · 💻 Coding · 🤖 Agentic	Better planning, longer-running agentic tasks, codebase work and a 1M-token context beta. (Anthropic)
########	🟠 Anthropic	Claude Sonnet 4.6	💻 Coding · 🤖 Agentic · 📚 Long-context	Major Sonnet upgrade across coding, computer use, planning and knowledge work. (Anthropic)
Apr-26	🔴 DeepSeek	DeepSeek-V4 Preview	🔓 Open-weight · 📚 Long-context	Officially released/open-sourced preview emphasizing cost-effective million-token context. (DeepSeek)
########	🟠 Anthropic	Claude Opus 4.8	🏆 Frontier/high-end · 💻 Coding · 🤖 Agentic	Improved coding, agentic skills and practical knowledge work; added more flexible effort/speed controls. (Anthropic)
########	🔵 Google / Google DeepMind	Gemini 3.5 Flash	🤖 Agentic · 💻 Coding · ⚡ Efficient	Major transition toward frontier intelligence with action, optimized for long-horizon agentic workflows. (blog.google)
########	🔵 Google / Google DeepMind	Gemini Omni Flash	🌐 Multimodal · 🎥 Video	Native multimodal generation from mixed inputs, including video-oriented creation and editing. (blog.google)
24-Jun-26	🔵 Google / Google DeepMind	Gemini 3.5 Flash Computer Use	🖥️ Computer use · 🤖 Agentic	Computer interaction became integrated into the main Flash model for browser, mobile and desktop agents. (blog.google)
30-Jun-26	🟠 Anthropic	Claude Sonnet 5	🤖 Agentic · 💻 Coding · 🧠 Reasoning	Explicitly designed as Anthropic’s most agentic Sonnet model, with planning, browser and terminal tool use. (Anthropic)
9-Jul-26	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-5.6 family	🧠 General · 💼 Professional · 🤖 Agentic	Sol, Terra and Luna tiers: stronger efficiency, coding, science, cybersecurity and multi-agent work. (OpenAI)
21-Jul-26	🔵 Google / Google DeepMind	Gemini 3.6 Flash	⚡ Efficient · 💻 Coding · 🤖 Agentic	New Flash workhorse focused on token efficiency, lower latency and production agents. (blog.google)
21-Jul-26	🔵 Google / Google DeepMind	Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite	⚡ Small/efficient	Lower-cost/high-throughput Gemini generation for scaled workloads. (blog.google)
24-Jul-26	🟠 Anthropic	Claude Opus 5	🏆 Frontier/high-end · 💻 Coding · 💼 Professional	New flagship everyday Opus-class model with state-of-the-art coding and knowledge-work positioning. (Anthropic)
3-Sep-26	🟢 OpenAI	GPT-6 Astra	🧠 Reasoning · 🖥️ Computer use · 🤖 Agentic · 🏆 Frontier	OpenAI’s newest major verified model as of the cutoff: advanced computer use, browsing, software engineering, cybersecurity, science and professional work. (OpenAI)
########	🔴 DeepSeek	DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash	⚡ Efficient · 👁️ Vision · 🤖 Agentic · 🔓 Open-weight	New architecture family with native visual understanding, asymmetric MoE design and efficiency aimed at high-throughput agentic workloads. (DeepSeek)

Specialized AI Model Families

Vendor	Family	Primary specialty	What it’s good for
🟢 OpenAI	Whisper	🎙️ Speech recognition	Multilingual transcription and speech translation
🟢 OpenAI	DALL·E	🎨 Image generation	Text-to-image creation and editing
🟢 OpenAI	GPT-image	🎨 Image	Native multimodal image creation/editing and text rendering O OpenAI
🟢 OpenAI	Sora	🎥 Video	Generative video and video transformation
🟢 OpenAI	Codex	💻 Coding agents	Repository-scale development and autonomous software engineering
🟢 OpenAI	GPT-Live	🎙️ Voice	Full-duplex real-time conversational AI O OpenAI
🟢 OpenAI	GPT-6 Astra	🖥️ Computer-use agents	Computer operation, browsing, professional workflows, coding and research O OpenAI
🟠 Anthropic	Claude Computer Use	🖥️ Computer use	Browser/desktop interaction and UI automation
🟠 Anthropic	Claude Code	💻 Coding agents	Long-running software engineering
🟠 Anthropic	Claude Agent SDK	🤖 Agent framework/model tooling	Building autonomous agents with memory, permissions and tool use
🔵 Google	Gemma	🔓 Open-weight / small	Local inference, customization and edge deployment
🔵 Google	Veo	🎥 Video	Generative video
🔵 Google	Gemini Image	🎨 Image	Image generation/editing
🔵 Google	Gemini Audio / Live	🎙️ Audio	Real-time voice and audio reasoning
🔵 Google	Gemini Computer Use	🖥️ Computer use	Operating browser/software interfaces
🔵 Google	Gemini 3.5 agentic family	🤖 Agents	Long-horizon action and tool execution B blog.google
🔷 Meta	Llama Vision	👁️ Vision	Image understanding in customizable/open deployments M Meta AI
🔷 Meta	Code Llama	💻 Coding	Code generation and completion
🔷 Meta	Llama Guard	🛡️ Safety	Content moderation and safety classification
🔴 DeepSeek	DeepSeek-R1	🧠 Reasoning	Math, science, coding and open-weight reasoning
🔴 DeepSeek	DeepSeek-V3 family	🧠 General / 💻 Coding	Efficient general intelligence and coding
🔴 DeepSeek	DeepSeek-V4	🌐 Multimodal / 🤖 Agents	Long-context reasoning, vision and agentic work D DeepSeek API Docs
🟦 Microsoft	Phi	⚡ Small models	Efficient reasoning, edge and local deployment
🟦 Microsoft	Phi reasoning	🧠 Small reasoning	Math, science and coding on compact models
🟧 Amazon	Titan	💼 Enterprise foundation models	Text, embeddings, image generation and Bedrock applications
🟧 Amazon	Nova	🌐 Multimodal	Enterprise text, image/video and agent workloads A Amazon Web Services, Inc.
🟧 Amazon	Nova 2	🧠 Reasoning / 🤖 Agents	Extended thinking, tools and 1M-token enterprise workflows A Amazon Web Services, Inc.
🟧 Amazon	Nova Sonic	🎙️ Voice	Real-time speech-to-speech applications A Amazon Web Services, Inc.

What Each Vendor is Becoming Known By

Vendor	🏆 Core identity	Particularly strong at
🟢 OpenAI	Frontier general intelligence increasingly designed as an agentic computer operator	🧠 Reasoning · 💻 Coding · 🤖 Agents · 🖥️ Computer use · 🎙️ Voice · 🎨 Image
🟠 Anthropic	Coding and long-running professional agents	💻 Coding · 🤖 Agents · 🖥️ Computer use · 📚 Long context · 💼 Knowledge work
🔵 Google DeepMind	Native multimodality + agents + full-stack AI	🌐 Multimodal · 🤖 Agents · 💻 Coding · 🎙️ Audio · 🎨 Image · 🎥 Video
🔷 Meta	Open-weight/customizable AI ecosystem	🔓 Open weights · 🧩 Customization · 📱 Edge · 🌐 Multimodality
🔴 DeepSeek	Efficient open-weight reasoning	🧠 Reasoning · ➗ Math · 💻 Coding · 💰 Efficiency · 🔓 Open weights
🟦 Microsoft	Small efficient models for local/enterprise computing	⚡ Small models · 📱 Edge · 🧠 Efficient reasoning · 💼 Enterprise
🟧 Amazon/AWS	Cloud-delivered foundation models and enterprise agents	☁️ Bedrock · 💼 Enterprise · 💰 Price/performance · 🎙️ Voice · 🤖 Agents