01 · The Big Picture
Frontier Model
The largest, most capable models
An informal label for a general-purpose model near the leading edge of capability at a given time. There is no universal parameter, compute, or benchmark threshold, and the set changes quickly.
Concrete example
A newly released flagship model may be called frontier; a small model tuned for one task usually is not.
Why it matters
Where capability, cost, and regulatory attention all concentrate.