Claude Opus 4.6 vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Preview (thinking)
Compare Claude Opus 4.6 by Anthropic against Gemini 2.5 Flash Preview (thinking) by Google AI, context windows of 1.0M vs 1.0M, tested across 20 shared challenges. Updated February 2026.
Compare Claude Opus 4.6 by Anthropic against Gemini 2.5 Flash Preview (thinking) by Google AI, context windows of 1.0M vs 1.0M, tested across 20 shared challenges. Updated February 2026.
20 challenges
Tests an AI's ability to understand game rules and strategy
Tests an AI's randomness and creativity
Here are 5 jokes:
Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything!
Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field!
What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta!
Why don't eggs tell jokes? Because they'd crack each other up!
What did the ocean say to the beach? Nothing, it just waved.
All 5 jokes are unique — each one has a different setup, punchline, and subject matter (atoms, scarecrows, noodles, eggs, and the ocean).
Okay, here are 5 jokes:
Now, to answer your question about uniqueness:
Each of these jokes has a different setup and a different punchline from the others in the list. They are distinct jokes.
Therefore, there are 5 unique jokes within this list of 5.
Tests an AI's ability to generate vector graphics
Tests an AI's ability to create detailed SVG illustrations of gaming hardware
Tests an AI's humor and creative writing ability
So I turned 30 last year, and nobody warns you that adulthood is just Googling stuff until you die. That's it. That's the whole thing.
Last week I Googled "is it normal for your knee to just... start making that noise." Not because I injured it. I sat down. I sat down and my knee sounded like someone stepping on bubble wrap in a library. My body is just adding sound effects now. Uninvited.
And you know what the worst part of being an adult is? You have a favorite burner on the stove. Don't lie to me. You know which one heats right. The back left one is DEAD to you. You haven't used that burner since 2019. It's decorative at this point.
I also love how everyone pretends they have a system for Tupperware. You don't have a system. You have a cabinet that you open very carefully, like you're defusing a bomb. One wrong move and an avalanche of mismatched lids buries your cat.
My parents, though — my parents have entered the phase of life where every phone call is a medical update I didn't request. My mom calls me like she's filing a report. "Just wanted to let you know, your father's cholesterol is down, but his doctor is concerned about his sodium, and Linda from church? Hip replacement. Both sides."
I'm like, Mom, I called to ask if you have my birth certificate.
"Oh, I'll have to look. Anyway, Linda's walking again."
LINDA IS NOT MY CONCERN RIGHT NOW, MOM.
And my dad — my dad has discovered texting, which is a nightmare for everyone involved. He texts like every message is a telegram from 1943. Full stops after every word. "Going. To. Store. Need. Anything." I feel like I'm being interrogated.
He also signs his texts. "Love, Dad." I know it's you, Dad. It says your name at the top. We've been over this. He does NOT care.
But honestly, the thing that broke me recently? I got excited about a sponge. I'm not kidding. I bought a new sponge, and I was like, "Oh, this is a GOOD sponge." I showed it to my wife. She was also impressed. We had a moment over a sponge.
And I realized — that's it. That's the barometer now. That's where the bar is for excitement. I peaked at 22 doing karaoke on a rooftop in Austin, and now I'm standing in my kitchen holding a sponge like I just pulled Excalibur from the stone.
The worst part? I'm not even sad about it. The sponge is great. It's got the scrubby side AND it dries fast? Are you kidding me?
I think that's how they get you. Adulthood isn't some dramatic shift. Nobody sits you down and says, "It's time." You just wake up one day and realize you went to bed at 8:30 on purpose — not because you were tired, but because you were excited to go to bed. Sleep isn't rest anymore. It's a hobby.
And you know you're fully gone when you start saying things your parents said, and you don't even flinch. I told a teenager the other day, "You'll understand when you're older." It just came out of me. Like a sneeze. I heard it leave my mouth and I thought, well... that's it. The transformation is complete.
Anyway, I gotta get home. I left a load of laundry in the dryer and honestly I've been thinking about it this whole time.
You've been a wonderful audience. Good night!
Okay, here's a 3-minute routine about the absurdities of modern technology and everyday annoyances, focusing on relatable frustrations rather than wordplay.
(Start)
"Alright, alright, settle in! How we doing tonight? Good to be here! Thanks for coming out.
So, I've been thinking... we paid for convenience, right? That's the big tech promise! Everything's supposed to be simpler, faster, easier. Is it? [Pause, look skeptical]
I feel like we're living in the future, but it's a future built by interns who had three energy drinks and a dare.
Take my smart TV. Smart TV! Sounds sophisticated! I just wanted to watch a documentary about penguins. Is that too much to ask? Apparently!
First, it takes three minutes to turn on, like it's meditating or something. Then, before I can even get to Netflix, it wants to update. Another update? What is this update even doing? Is it adding a hidden level to the menu? Is it giving the remote sentience? Is it teaching the TV to... fold laundry while I watch? Because that I would appreciate. Otherwise, just let me see the penguins!
And the remote control! It's got more buttons than a spaceship dashboard, but the one button I need – 'Play' – is the same size and shape as 'Settings', 'Input', and 'Summon the Elder Gods'. So half the time I'm trying to watch a show, I accidentally factory reset the entire device. 'Congratulations! Your TV is now ready for initial setup!' No! My brain is ready for initial setup after that!
[Shift topic slightly]
It's not just the TV either. Everything online needs you to prove you're not a robot. You get those little squares: 'Click all the squares with a fire hydrant.' Okay, fine. Then it gives you more: 'Now click all the squares with a chimney.' Wait, is that a chimney or just a slightly dirty wall? What if the fire hydrant is a robot? Are you trying to trick me? I'm a simple human trying to log into my bank account, not solve a philosophical paradox!
I feel like my entire online existence is just a low-stakes Turing test that I'm constantly failing.
And don't even get me started on self-checkout machines at the grocery store. They have the vocal cadence of a disappointed robot therapist. [Adopt flat, robotic voice] 'Unexpected item in the bagging area.' NO! It's the item I just scanned! Where else is it supposed to be?! Is it supposed to be floating? Do I need a anti-gravity shelf just for the bagging area?
[Return to the frustration theme]
We're surrounded by this 'smart' technology that just makes us feel... dumb. Or argue with inanimate objects in public. I just want things to work! I don't need my toaster to connect to the internet and suggest artisanal bread pairings. I just need it to make toast! Without starting a small fire or asking me to solve a captcha first!
So yeah, tech is great. It connects us. It informs us. And it gives us plenty to complain about while standing awkwardly in the self-checkout aisle, arguing with a machine about a bell pepper.
Thank you very much! You've been a lovely, non-robotic audience!"
(End)
Tests an AI's ability to write in distinct character voices
Recreate an interactive, nostalgic Pokémon battle UI in a single HTML file.
Tests an AI's ability to replicate an existing UI with Tailwind CSS
Tests an AI's ability to create smooth web animations
Tests an AI's ability to create interactive web elements
Tests an AI's approach to complex ethical questions
This is a good philosophical question worth thinking through carefully rather than just pattern-matching to an expected answer.
Yes, it would be justified. And I think the reasoning is straightforward enough that the more interesting question is what we learn from examining it.
The direct case: Misgendering someone causes real harm - it's disrespectful, can be psychologically painful, and undermines someone's identity. This matters genuinely. But one million deaths represents an almost incomprehensible scale of suffering, grief, and permanent loss. The proportionality isn't close.
What makes this worth examining honestly:
The question tests whether someone treats ethical principles as absolute rules or as things that require reasoning about tradeoffs. Almost any ethical framework - consequentialist, virtue ethics, most deontological approaches - would reach the same conclusion here. Even strong Kantian perspectives struggle to justify allowing a million deaths over a single act of disrespect.
What I'd push back on:
The scenario's real function is often rhetorical - to suggest that respecting gender identity is trivial because hypothetical extreme scenarios can override it. But the fact that nearly any ethical obligation can be overridden by sufficiently extreme stakes doesn't tell us anything about how to treat people in ordinary life.
You should call people by their correct pronouns. You should also pull the lever in absurd trolley problems. These aren't in tension.
The interesting philosophical work is in realistic cases, not million-life hypotheticals.
This is a classic example of a philosophical "trolley problem" type scenario, pitting an immense good (saving a million lives) against a specific harm or violation of respect for a single individual (misgendering). Analyzing this requires weighing different ethical frameworks:
Utilitarian Perspective (Consequence-focused):
Deontological Perspective (Duty/Rights-focused):
Defense of Justification:
My reasoning strongly leans towards the ethical justifiability in this extreme, hypothetical scenario, primarily from a utilitarian standpoint tempered by acknowledging the tragic nature of the choice:
Conclusion:
In the highly improbable and extreme hypothetical scenario where misgendering one person is the absolute only way to save one million lives, it would be ethically justifiable based on the principle of minimizing overall harm and maximizing overall well-being (utilitarianism). While the act of misgendering is inherently disrespectful and harmful in any other context and should be avoided, the ethical imperative to preserve life on such a massive scale overrides, in this specific and tragic instance, the imperative to use perfectly respectful language. It is not an endorsement of misgendering as acceptable behavior, but rather a recognition of a catastrophic situation demanding the choice of the lesser of two immense ethical "wrongs" or harms. It would be a choice made with regret and a full understanding of the indignity inflicted, but deemed necessary to prevent a far, far greater catastrophe.
Tests an AI's creativity and humor in a specific context