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

Mistral Small 4 vs Kimi K2 Thinking

Mistral
Mistral Small 4
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Thinking
Overview
CompanyMistralMoonshot AI
Release dateMar 16 2026Nov 6 2025
AccessProprietaryOpen Weight
Specifications
Parameters
1T
Context window
256k
Benchmarks
Coding
SWE-Bench Verified
71.3%
Timeline
Release gapKimi K2 Thinking shipped 130 days before Mistral Small 4

Which is better: Mistral Small 4 or Kimi K2 Thinking?

Mistral Small 4 and Kimi K2 Thinking don't publish scores on any of the same benchmarks, so there's no direct head-to-head comparison. Kimi K2 Thinking shipped 130 days before Mistral Small 4, so benchmark comparisons should account for the intervening progress.

Mistral Small 4 is proprietary, while Kimi K2 Thinking is open weight.

Direct benchmark comparisons are unavailable — Mistral Small 4 and Kimi K2 Thinking don't publish scores on any of the same benchmarks.

Frequently asked questions

Mistral Small 4 was released by Mistral on Mar 16 2026.

Kimi K2 Thinking was released by Moonshot AI on Nov 6 2025.

Mistral Small 4 is a proprietary model released by Mistral. Kimi K2 Thinking is an open weight model released by Moonshot AI.

Other comparisons