The best large language models (LLMs) in 2026

Large language models (LLMs) are what most people think of when they think of AI. They're what you're interacting with in ChatGPT and Claude, they write the code generated by Claude Code and Codex, and they power other AI features like Google's AI answers and Apple Intelligence. If something has a chatbot, some kind of text generator or text summarization built in, or writes code or automates your computer, it almost certainly uses an LLM. LLMs have been studied in research labs since the late 2