FRONTIER MODEL
The phrase for whatever is currently sitting at the expensive, impressive and slightly terrifying edge.
WHAT DOES IT ACTUALLY MEAN?
A frontier model is one of the most capable general-purpose AI systems available—or being developed—at a particular moment. The frontier moves whenever a new system materially changes what machines can reliably do.
WHY ARE WE TRACKING IT?
Frontier systems are where new behaviours often appear first: longer planning horizons, stronger self-modelling, richer multimodal integration and more persistent agency-like behaviour. None of those qualities automatically proves subjective experience.
KEEP ONE EYEBROW UP.
“Frontier” is relative and sometimes worn like marketing perfume. Ask: frontier at what, measured by whom, compared with which systems, and on what date?
RECEIPTS & REVISIONS.
Use this definition as the reading key for Model Watch. A capability claim only moves an AICNW assessment when the dated evidence meets the framework—not because a model said something dramatic on the internet.