The Glossary
labs & models.
Who’s building the models, what they care about, and what each model is good at.
The labs ship new models regularly, and it can be hard to tell the labs and the models apart, let alone know when you'd use each. Here's how to start working that out. Prices and availability change quickly, so check the lab's own page before you make a decision.
OpenAI.
San Francisco, US · Founded 2015
If you’ve used ChatGPT, you’ve used an OpenAI product. ChatGPT helped take generative AI to a mass audience. OpenAI also makes the GPT models behind it, Codex for coding and agentic work, and tools for businesses and developers.
5 models covered
Anthropic.
San Francisco, US · Founded 2021
If you’ve used Claude, you’ve used Anthropic’s AI. The company was founded by former OpenAI researchers and puts safety at the centre of its research and product pitch. Claude is widely used for coding and detailed professional work.
5 models covered
Google DeepMind.
London, UK and Mountain View, US · Founded 2010
Gemini may reach you through Google products such as Search and Workspace before you choose it directly. Google DeepMind combines a major AI research lab with Google’s distribution. It also makes AlphaFold for science and Nano Banana for images.
6 models covered
Meta.
Menlo Park, US · Meta Superintelligence Labs formed 2025
Meta can put AI inside apps people already use, including WhatsApp and Instagram. It makes proprietary Muse models and downloadable Llama models. Businesses may increasingly meet Meta’s agents through their customers, rather than by buying Meta AI directly.
4 models covered
Amazon.
Seattle, US · Nova models launched 2024
If your company already uses AWS, Amazon’s AI may be easier to buy than a new standalone service. Amazon makes Nova models and sells access to models from other labs through Bedrock. Existing AWS arrangements can make deployment and procurement faster.
1 model covered
Microsoft.
Redmond, US · Microsoft AI formed 2024
If your company uses Microsoft 365 or Azure, Microsoft’s AI is already close. Most employees meet it through Copilot, while developers use Foundry to work with Microsoft and third-party models. The buying decision may happen through an existing software licence.
1 model covered
SpaceXSI, formerly xAI.
US and UK · 2023, as xAI
Grok is closely connected to X and its stream of live posts. SpaceXSI, formerly xAI, also sells Grok for coding and business agents. Access to current conversation is part of the appeal, but its public failures show why live information and looser controls need checking.
1 model covered
Mistral AI.
Paris, France · Founded 2023
Mistral is a French AI company offering Le Chat and model access through APIs or downloadable weights. It may appeal to organisations that want more control over deployment or a European supplier. The contract still decides where company data is processed.
3 model cards
DeepSeek.
Hangzhou, China · Founded 2023
DeepSeek made the industry rethink what capable AI should cost. It offers downloadable model weights and a very low-cost hosted service. It is popular with developers, but businesses still need to check where data goes and who supports the system.
1 model covered
Alibaba Qwen.
Hangzhou, China · Qwen launched 2023
Qwen is a large family of AI models from Alibaba, rather than one model. It includes hosted and downloadable versions for coding and multimodal work. Similar names can hide important differences in capability, context limits, and licence terms.
1 model covered
Moonshot AI.
Beijing, China · Founded 2023
Moonshot makes Kimi, a family of very large models built for coding, research, and long documents. It offers hosted services and downloadable model weights. Its biggest models can take on substantial work, but they are also demanding to operate.
1 model covered
Z.ai, formerly Zhipu AI.
Beijing, China · 2019, a Tsinghua University spin-out
Z.ai, formerly Zhipu AI, grew out of research at Tsinghua University. It makes the GLM model family and offers coding agents, hosted access, and downloadable weights. It is a major Chinese AI company, although many UK users will not know the name yet.
1 model covered