Opus 4.6 and ChatGPT 5.3-Codex Are Here and the Labs Are at War
The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis
Nathaniel Whittemore
4.7 • 763 Ratings
🗓️ 6 February 2026
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Anthropic dropped Claude Opus 4.6 and OpenAI responded with GPT 5.3 Codex just 20 minutes later — the most intense head-to-head model release we've ever seen. Here's what each model brings, how they compare, and what the first reactions are telling us. In the headlines: Google and Amazon share their capex plans, and we're about to spend 2.5 moon landings on AI.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Today on the AI Daily Brief, we've got not one but two new models that show exactly where the leading model labs priorities lie. |
| 0:08.4 | And before that, in the headlines, looks like we're going to spend a cool two-thirds of a trillion dollars on AI infrastructure this year. |
| 0:14.9 | The AI Daily Brief is a daily podcast and video about the most important news and discussions in AI. |
| 0:24.0 | All right, friends, quick announcements before we dive in. |
| 0:26.7 | Firstly, thank you to today's sponsors, KPMG, Scrunch, Super Intelligent, and Blitzy. |
| 0:31.5 | To get an ad-free version of the show, go to patreon.com slash AI Daily Brief, or you can |
| 0:35.7 | subscribe on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:37.3 | If you are interested in sponsoring the show or really want to learn anything else about Brief, or you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts. If you are interested in sponsoring |
| 0:38.7 | the show or really want to learn anything else about the show, you can head on over to |
| 0:42.3 | AIdailybrief.aI. Welcome back to the AI Daily Brief Headlines edition, all the daily AI news |
| 0:48.4 | you need in around five minutes. We kick off today with Google and Amazon rounding out big tech |
| 0:53.6 | earnings with a very unified message, |
| 0:56.3 | AI CapEx is accelerating faster than ever. Both companies lifted CapEx forecast significantly. |
| 1:02.7 | Google guided AI spending between 175 and 185 billion for this year, vastly outstripping estimates of 115 billion. |
| 1:10.2 | This level would double Google's already high |
| 1:12.2 | 91 billion in CAPEX for 2025. Amazon, though, came in over the top the following evening |
| 1:17.6 | guiding $200 billion in CAPX for 2026 for a 60% jump. With Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and |
| 1:24.4 | meta all lifting expectations, we now have 650 billion in projected |
| 1:29.3 | AI CAPEX for 2026 from just these four. |
| 1:32.9 | That's now more than the inflation-adjusted cost of the multi-decade U.S. Interstate |
| 1:36.6 | Highway Project anticipated to be spent in a single year. |
| 1:40.7 | It's about two and a half Apollo Moon missions or four and a half international space |
... |
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