AI Model Release Tracker - Timeline of Major AI Models from 2022-2026

Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Grok 4 Heavy

Anthropic
Claude Sonnet 4.6
SpaceXAI
Grok 4 Heavy
Overview
CompanyAnthropicSpaceXAI
Release dateFeb 17 2026Jul 9 2025
AccessProprietaryProprietary
Benchmarks
Nonsense detection
BullshitBench v2
91%
Coding
SWE-Bench Verified
79.6%
Agentic coding
CursorBench v3.1
49%
Next.js coding
Next.js Evals
58%
Multi-step tool use
MCP Atlas
69.5%
Multidisciplinary reasoning
Humanity's Last Exam · no tools
33.2%
Abstract reasoning
ARC-AGI-2
58.3%
Science
GPQA Diamond
89.9%
Agentic computer use
OSWorld-Verified
72.5%
Agentic financial analysis
Finance Agent v2
51%
Knowledge work
GDPval-AA
1676
Chart reasoning
CharXiv Reasoning
72.4%
Multimodal reasoning
MMMU-Pro
74.5%
Spatial reasoning
Blueprint-Bench 2
6.7%
Long context
MRCR v2 (8-needle) · 128k average
84.9%
Community preference (code)
Arena Elo (Code)
1521
Timeline
Release gapGrok 4 Heavy shipped 223 days before Claude Sonnet 4.6

Which is better: Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 4 Heavy?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 4 Heavy don't publish scores on any of the same benchmarks, so there's no direct head-to-head comparison. Grok 4 Heavy shipped 223 days before Claude Sonnet 4.6, so benchmark comparisons should account for the intervening progress.

Published specifications for these two models are limited — see each model page for the latest details.

Direct benchmark comparisons are unavailable — Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 4 Heavy don't publish scores on any of the same benchmarks.

Frequently asked questions

Claude Sonnet 4.6 was released by Anthropic on Feb 17 2026.

Grok 4 Heavy was released by SpaceXAI on Jul 9 2025.

Other comparisons