Anthropic introduced Claude Opus 4.8, an updated version of its flagship AI model with improved performance in coding, reasoning tasks, and complex query handling.
“We kept the same pricing while adding tools to manage response speed and token usage,” the company said in a press release.
Anthropic said Opus 4.8 posted stronger results in benchmarks focused on agentic coding, financial analysis, and knowledge-based tasks. The model also improved metrics tied to “prosocial behavior” — its ability to account for user interests while maintaining independent decision-making.
Alongside the update, the company launched a faster processing mode. According to Anthropic, it speeds up response generation by 2.5x and cuts usage costs by three times compared to previous versions.
Anthropic linked the rollout of the new features to growing demand for cheaper AI services.
“Users are increasingly choosing models not only for response quality, but also for usage costs,” the company noted.
The company also stressed that the update still falls short of Mythos-class models, which remain available only to a limited group of partners. Anthropic said it plans to open access to all customers “in the coming weeks” after introducing additional safety measures.
Read also: