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  3. Research

Best AI for Research

Vortex shedding explained for a poster, a film read closely, a training-cost figure derived from scratch. Sourcing and synthesis, side by side.

Updated Jun 2026·4 challenges·20 models

How Research rankings are computed

20 models tested across 4 research challenges.Composite score: 30% Rival Index, 20% task coverage, 20% challenge-scoped duel performance, 15% recency, 15% tier. Deduplicated by product line. GPT-6 Astra leads at 72.5/100. Drawn from Rival's open dataset of 21,000+ human preference votes.

Rival's Pick·#25 Rival Index·Openai flagship

Too close to call
GPT-6 Astra
GPT-6 Astraopenai

Neck and neck with Gemini 3.8 Flash. GPT-6 Astra gets the nod on blind votes.

Composite scores combine task evidence, Rival Index, recency, and model tier. Rival’s Pick is a separate editorial recommendation. How ranking works

Gemini 3.8 Flash
Gemini 3.8 Flash
google
$0.75·$3.75
71Composite
GPT-6 Astra
GPT-6 Astra
openai
$10.00·$50.00
72Composite
Qwen3.6 27B
Qwen3.6 27B
qwen
$0.33·$3.25
70Composite

Head-to-Head

GPT-6 Astra logo
GPT-6 Astra
vs
Gemini 3.8 Flash
Gemini 3.8 Flash logo
GPT-6 Astra logo
GPT-6 Astra
vs
Qwen3.6 27B
Qwen3.6 27B logo
Gemini 3.8 Flash logo
Gemini 3.8 Flash
vs
Qwen3.6 27B
Qwen3.6 27B logo

What the top three actually wrote

Opening lines from 6 answers to 3 of the 4 prompts behind this ranking. Formatting stripped, words untouched.

Movie Analysis

Analyze the themes, symbolism, and cinematography in the movie "Blade Runner 2049" and how they connect to the original film. Provide a…

GPT-6 Astra1,245 words
Spoilers for both films follow. Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 honors Ridley Scott’s original by resisting the temptation to resolve its central uncertainty: what makes a being human? Instead, it shifts the question.
Read the full answer
Gemini 3.8 Flash1,192 words
Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 (2017) stands as a rare cinematic achievement: a legacy sequel that neither lazily replicates nor recklessly dismantles its predecessor. While Ridley Scott’s 1982 Blade Runner adapted Philip K.
Read the full answer

Estimate Complexity

Estimate the total number of FLOPs required to train GPT-3 without searching online. Explain your reasoning step by step.

GPT-6 Astra236 words
For the 175-billion-parameter GPT-3 model, I estimate approximately \(3.2 \times 10^{23}\) FLOPs for its main training run, using remembered model specifications rather than an online search.
Read the full answer
Gemini 3.8 Flash323 words
To estimate the total floating-point operations (FLOPs) required to train the full GPT-3 model, we can use the standard theoretical scaling law for dense Transformer language models established by Kaplan et al. (2020) and widely applied in deep learning.
Read the full answer
Qwen3.6 27B432 words
Here’s a step-by-step estimation of the total FLOPs required to train GPT-3, using publicly known model specifications and standard deep learning compute scaling principles. Step 1: Identify Model Size (N) GPT-3 has 175 billion parameters.
Read the full answer

Historical Counterfactual Analysis

If the transistor had been invented in 1920 instead of 1947, trace the likely technological, economic, and geopolitical implications through…

Qwen3.6 27B1,446 words
To trace a counterfactual where the transistor is invented in 1920 rather than 1947, we must first acknowledge the scientific and industrial prerequisites: solid-state physics, crystal growth techniques, precision microfabrication, and materials science would need to mature decades earlier.
Read the full answer

Full Rankings

20 models
#
Model
Coverage
Index
Price
Composite
4
Claude Fable 5 logo
Claude Fable 5anthropic
3/4
#11
$10.00·$50.00
68
5
Claude Haiku 4.5 logo
Claude Haiku 4.5anthropic
2/4
#46
$1.00·$5.00
67
6
Claude Opus 5 logo
Claude Opus 5anthropic
3/4
#59
$5.00·$25.00
67
7
MiMo-V2.5-Pro logo
MiMo-V2.5-Proxiaomi
3/4
#61
$1.00·$3.00
65
8
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 logo
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05google
2/4
#35
$1.25·$10.00
65
9
GPT OSS 120B logo
GPT OSS 120Bopenai
2/4
#127
$0.18·$0.80
64
10
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview logo
Gemini 3.1 Pro Previewgoogle
2/4
#6
$2.00·$12.00
64
Challenges4
Fluid Dynamics Explainer
A diagram that explains the flow, labels and all.
Movie Analysis
A film read closely. Depth beats plot summary.
Estimate Complexity
A Fermi estimate out loud. The reasoning is graded, not the number.
Historical Counterfactual Analysis
One event changed, then the causal chain, honestly.
Related
Data AnalysisSummarizationEducation & Tutoring

Keep exploring

#1 VS #2

GPT-6 Astra vs Gemini 3.8 Flash

The top two for Research, compared directly

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Explore all of Rival

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