Glossary
Frontier model
What is a frontier model?
A frontier model is one of the most capable, and usually most expensive, AI models from the leading labs. It is used for hard reasoning, ambiguous judgment and long, multi-step work.
Why it matters
Frontier models are often the right place to start while you learn what “good” looks like, but many routine tasks don’t need one. Paying frontier prices for simple work is a common source of wasted AI spend.
Example
A company keeps a frontier model for reconciling conflicting financial figures, where smaller models make far more mistakes, and moves meeting summaries to a small model.