Where the news comes from.

A model that has just appeared on a provider price list.

How it is made

Every hour we read OpenRouter's public list of models and compare it with the list we saved last time. A model that is new on the list, and was released in the last three weeks, becomes a signal. Its context size, prices and size come straight from the list.

What it does not tell you

OpenRouter lists a model when it becomes available there, which is usually the day the lab releases it but not always. The lab's own announcement is the final word.

Importance, 1 to 5

• •Starts at 2.
• •A frontier lab: +1.
• •Open weights from a lab that is not a frontier lab: +1.
• •Already in the Arena top 10: +2.
• •Only a free listing: -1.

A model that is listed to be switched off on a date.

How it is made

OpenRouter's list carries a shutdown date for models that are being retired. A signal appears the first time a date shows up for a model.

What it does not tell you

The date is the one the provider gave OpenRouter. The lab may keep serving the model elsewhere.

Importance, 1 to 5

• •A frontier lab: 4. Any other lab: 2.
• •Within 30 days: +1.

A price per million tokens that went up or down since the last reading.

How it is made

We compare the input and output prices on OpenRouter's list with the ones saved at the previous hour. A change of 10% or more is a signal. Changes bigger than twenty times are treated as data glitches and ignored.

What it does not tell you

These are the prices OpenRouter shows, which can differ from the lab's own price page (volume discounts, cached prompts, regions). Check before you budget.

Importance, 1 to 5

• •A change of 50% or more: 4.
• •25% or more: 3.
• •10% or more: 2.
• •A frontier lab: +1.

A move on the Arena leaderboard, where people vote on blind head-to-head answers.

How it is made

The Arena publishes its ranking about once a day. When a new ranking appears we compare it with the previous one and report a new number one, a model entering the top 3 or the top 10, and big climbs or falls among the leaders.

What it does not tell you

Ratings have a margin of error, so neighbouring ranks are close to ties. A one-place change is never reported.

Importance, 1 to 5

• •A new #1, or a model entering the top 3: 5.
• •Entering the top 10: 4.
• •Climbing or falling by 4 places or more: 3.

An open-weight model that is taking off on Hugging Face.

How it is made

Every hour we read Hugging Face's list of trending text models. A model that was not on the list last time, and has at least 60 likes, becomes a signal, with its likes, downloads and size.

What it does not tell you

Trending means people are looking at it, not that it is good. Check the model card and the Arena before you rely on it.

Importance, 1 to 5

• •Starts at 2.
• •Published in the last 14 days: +1.
• •200 or more likes: +1.
• •1,000 or more likes: +1.

A new major or minor version of software that runs or trains AI models.

How it is made

We read the public release feeds of a short list of projects (vLLM, Ollama, Transformers, PyTorch, SGLang, MLX, TensorRT-LLM). Only new major and minor versions count: patch releases and release candidates are skipped.

What it does not tell you

A version number tells you something shipped, not what changed. The release notes linked from each signal say that.

Importance, 1 to 5

• •A major version: 4.
• •A minor version: 3.

A research paper the community is voting up.

How it is made

We read Hugging Face's daily papers ranked by trending votes. A paper from the last three weeks with at least 40 upvotes becomes a signal. We show its title as published, the votes and the authors, and link to the paper.

What it does not tell you

Votes measure interest, not correctness. We do not summarise or judge the paper.

Importance, 1 to 5

• •200 or more upvotes: 4.
• •100 or more: 3.
• •40 or more: 2.

A rule, order or notice about AI published by the US government.

How it is made

We search the Federal Register's public API for recent rules, proposed rules, presidential documents and notices, and keep the ones whose title or official summary is about AI. The text is the government's own, shown as published.

What it does not tell you

This covers United States federal documents only. Other countries' rules, state laws and court cases are not included yet.

Importance, 1 to 5

• •A final rule or a presidential document: 4.
• •A proposed rule: 3.
• •A notice: 2, or 3 when its title is about AI.
• •A document that only mentions AI in its summary: -1.