Name: 5 New AI Models That Are Smarter (and Cheaper) Than GPT-5
Uploaded: 2026-02-24T17:00:24+00:00
Description: *Get our AI news cheat sheet: 20+ prompts for the latest models and tools* https://clickhubspot.com/wba Episode 98: Is 2026 shaping up to be the year AI agents beco…

*Get our AI news cheat sheet: 20+ prompts for the latest models and tools* https://clickhubspot.com/wba

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 Podcast if you’re on the go and want to listen to the show: https://lnk.to/thenextwaveyt

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Show Notes:
(00:00 Introduction
01:00 OpenClaw Founder Goes to OpenAI — The Full Story
04:00 Peter Steinberger's Background (PS PDF to OpenClaw)
06:00 How Anthropic Fumbled Claude Bot
11:00 2026: The Year Agents Actually Become Useful
15:00 Meta Launches Manus AI on Telegram
19:00 Mark Cuban: When AI Tokens Cost More Than Employees
22:00 Manus AI Integration With Meta Ads Manager
27:00 11 Labs Voice Agents for Customer Support (Live Demo)
32:00 Model Release Madness: Biggest Month in AI History
35:00 Claude Sonnet 4.6 Deep Dive (1M Token Context Window)
39:00 API Pricing Breakdown: Why Cheaper Models Matter
42:00 Gemini 3.1 Pro: Google Levels Up in Science & Coding
45:00 Grok 4.20: Elon's "Council of Experts" Approach
49:00 Google Pelli: AI Product Photo Shoots (Live Demo)
55:00 How to Spin Up an E-Commerce Business Overnight With AI
57:00 "Conductor vs Trumpet Player" — The Mindset Shift
59:00 The Window to Capitalize on AI Is Closing
1:00:00 Time Magazine: "The People vs AI" — Matt's Take
1:03:00 Can We Actually Slow Down AI? (The China Problem)
1:05:00 "Two Scale Time" — Human Progress Over 13.8 Billion Years
1:07:00 Fei-Fei Li on Creativity & AI (Godmother of AI Clip)
1:10:00 Can AI Be Creative? The Hollywood Panic
1:17:00 AI as a Thinking Partner, Not a Replacement
1:19:00 AI Slop vs Taste: Why Good Ideas Still Win
1:21:00 Ice-T: "Expensive Music Videos Are Over"
1:22:00 Matthew McConaughey: "Own Yourself Before AI Does"
1:25:00 Why Your Kids Won't Care About Movie Stars
1:28:00 Taste & Human Creativity Still Matter
1:32:00 China's Ninja Robots at the Spring Festival Gala
1:34:00 Robots: Hardware Is Solved — Software Isn't
1:37:00 US vs China: Compute vs Manufacturing