5 New AI Models That Are Smarter (and Cheaper) Than GPT-5 (1h 36m)

← Back to week overview

• Release date: 2026-02-24
• Listen on Spotify: Open episode
• Episode description:

  Get our AI news cheat sheet: 20+ prompts for the latest models and tools https://clickhubspot.com/kps  Episode 98: Is 2026 shaping up to be the year AI agents become indispensable—and outpace GPT-5? Hosts Matt Wolfe (https://x.com/mreflow)) and Joe Fier (linkedin.com/in/joefier) break down the explosion of new AI models, including Claude Sonnet 4.6, Gemini 3.1 Pro, and Grok 4.2, and explore how these tools are not only smarter but also significantly cheaper than previous state-of-the-art language models.  This episode dives deep into the rise of agentic AI, the OpenClaw origin story, and how companies like Meta and ElevenLabs are racing to create integrated, emotionally-aware AI agents. Matt and Joe discuss the rapid democratization of AI, the impact of these advances on creativity and business operations, and the ongoing debate about slowing down AI before it accelerates beyond human control. Plus: practical demos, business tips, and a look at the hardware/software divide in global robotics.  Check out The Next Wave YouTube Channel if you want to see Matt and Nathan on screen: https://lnk.to/thenextwavepd  —  Show Notes:      (00:00) Next Wave Podcast: AI Insights       (06:09) Anthropic Blocks, OpenAI Welcomes       (10:35) ClaudeBot: AI Team Assistant       (20:50) Meta Integrates Manus AI Ads       (22:04) AI vs Manual Ad Management       (29:55) New AI Models Released       (31:54) AI Models Improve, Consumers Unchanged       (41:09) Chatbots: Everyday and Advanced Uses       (43:57) Mixture of Experts Explained       (47:23) AI-Powered Product Photo Creator       (56:58) Debating Internet Advancement       (01:00:36) To Scale: Human Evolution       (01:03:42) AI Debate: Polarized or Balanced?       (01:13:16) AI Creativity Still Needs Humans       (01:16:40) AI's Future in Entertainment       (01:24:15) Experience Enhances AI Creativity       (01:27:08) Robots Struggle with Nuance       (01:30:27) US-China Collaboration for Smart Robots       —  Mentions:      Joe Fier: https://www.instagram.com/joefier/       Seedance 2.0: https://www.seedance.com/       OpenClaw: https://openclaw.ai/       Manus: https://manus.im/       Nano Banana: https://nanobanana.com/       ElevenLabs: https://elevenlabs.io/       Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/     Get the guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/tnw  —  Check Out Matt’s Stuff:  • Future Tools - https://futuretools.beehiiv.com/  • Blog - https://www.mattwolfe.com/  • YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/@mreflow  —  Check Out Nathan's Stuff:      Newsletter: https://news.lore.com/       Blog - https://lore.com/     The Next Wave is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Production by Darren Clarke // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano

Summary

• 🤖 Agents Go Prime Time: OpenClaw’s creator joins OpenAI, Meta/Telegram integrations, and voice support agents mark agents as useful ‘employees’ for tasks like ads and research, self-correcting for reliability.
• 💰 Models Get Cheaper, Smarter: Sonnet 4.6 nears Opus quality at lower cost; Gemini excels in science; Grok uses expert councils—driving agent efficiency and dropping token expenses below labor soon.
• 🚀 E-Com Startups Supercharged: Pomelli’s photoshoots/brand kits plus agent ads enable overnight dropshipping empires, commoditizing visuals but rewarding orchestrators.
• ⚖️ Backlash Meets Inevitability: Time’s ‘People vs. AI’ highlights slowdown calls, but global competition and history (e.g., internet) ensure acceleration.
• 🎨 AI Augments Creators: Fei-Fei Li, McConaughey, Ice-T: AI empowers human taste/IP ownership, not replacement—future favors adapters over resisters.

Insights

• Could hiring the creator of OpenClaw signal OpenAI’s push to dominate the agent economy?

  Time: 1:49 – 8:46

  Category: AI-Driven Innovation Economy, AI in Workforce Disruption

  Answer: Peter Steinberger, OpenClaw’s founder, joined OpenAI after building a popular open-source AI agent that runs on personal devices and integrates with messaging apps like Telegram. This move, amid Anthropic’s restrictions on model usage, positions OpenAI to advance agentic systems while keeping OpenClaw independent, potentially accelerating useful AI agents that act like team members. (Start at 1:49)

• Are AI agents finally evolving from gimmicks to genuine business employees?

  Time: 10:18 – 17:24

  Category: AI in Everyday Life, AI in Workforce Disruption, AI-Driven Innovation Economy

  Answer: Tools like OpenClaw, Meta’s Manus in Telegram/Ads Manager, and ElevenLabs’ voice agents demonstrate agents handling tasks autonomously via APIs, self-correcting errors, and integrating into workflows like ad creation or customer support. This shift makes agents useful for overnight research, 3D printing, or 24/7 ad optimization, far beyond slow browser automation. (Start at 10:18)

• Will plummeting model costs make AI cheaper than human labor soon?

  Time: 18:08 – 20:51

  Category: AI in Workforce Disruption, AI-Driven Innovation Economy

  Answer: Mark Cuban highlighted short-term token costs exceeding employee wages for equivalent work, but new releases like Claude Sonnet 4.6 offer near-Opus performance at 40-60% lower prices, especially for agentic tasks. As models improve rapidly, this cost barrier will vanish, enabling scalable automation. (Start at 18:08)

• What do rapid model releases mean for everyday users?

  Time: 30:36 – 46:46

  Category: AI Tutors & Personalized Learning, AI in Everyday Life

  Answer: Claude Sonnet 4.6, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Grok 4.2 bring cheaper, agent-optimized performance (e.g., 1M tokens, better coding/science), baked into free tiers—enhancing problem-solving via auto-coding without noticeable change for casual queries. (Start at 30:36)

• How is AI turbocharging e-commerce startups like never before?

  Time: 47:47 – 55:55

  Category: AI-Driven Innovation Economy, Cultural Creativity with AI

  Answer: Tools like Google’s Pomelli auto-generate brand kits, product photoshoots, and campaigns from a URL or image, while agents like Manus create ads—lowering barriers to launch dropshipping stores overnight. This democratizes business creation, though it commoditizes basic visuals, pushing pros toward orchestration. (Start at 47:47)

• Why can’t calls to ‘slow down AI’ stop its global momentum?

  Time: 56:47 – 61:11

  Category: AI Governance & Laws, Existential AI Risks

  Answer: Time Magazine profiles backlash over energy/data centers, but speakers argue it’s futile without global coordination—China, open-source, and competitors like Mistral won’t pause, mirroring past tech resistances like the internet. Progress is inevitable, driven by military/economic stakes. (Start at 56:47)

• Does AI replace creators or supercharge human creativity?

  Time: 67:53 – 86:09

  Category: Cultural Creativity with AI, AI in Pop Culture & Media, AI & Human Identity

  Answer: Fei-Fei Li, Matthew McConaughey, and Ice-T emphasize AI augments vision—e.g., trademark likeness for licensing, generate visuals cheaply—rather than replacing taste/storytelling. Humans provide unique ideas; AI handles execution, but slop proliferates without human curation. (Start at 67:53)

• Is the US-China robot divide hardware vs. software the next AI battleground?

  Time: 86:20 – 94:57

  Category: AI in National Security, AI-Driven Innovation Economy

  Answer: China excels in manufacturing agile robots (e.g., martial arts performers), iterating fast via infrastructure, while US leads in compute/AI intelligence for world understanding. Combining them could yield superior robots, but geopolitics hinders collaboration. (Start at 86:20)

Want the full treatment? Download expanded insights—timestamps, complete answers, and course materials from AI Weekly Insights.