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Shifts · updated 9 Oct 2026

The ground keeps moving. 32 shifts in 68 days.

New models, new limits, new owners, new terms: what changed for people who code with agents, since August. Each one is a reason not to tie your work to a single agent.

  1. 3 Aug Qwen3.8-Max
  2. 14 Aug Qwen3.8-27B, small enough to run yourself
  3. 14 Aug SpaceX completes its $60 billion purchase of Cursor
  4. 14 Aug GLM-5.3, an open coding model
  5. 29 Aug OpenAI ends Cursor’s direct model access
  6. 31 Aug DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision weights, under MIT
  7. 1 Sept Copilot Business and Enterprise lose their extra credits
  8. 3 Sept GPT-6 Astra
  9. 10 Sept New ChatGPT Pro sign-ups are paused
  10. 14 Sept Claude Code’s weekly limits drop about 17%
  11. 16 Sept GPT-5.5 leaves ChatGPT and Codex on 14 October
  12. 18 Sept Claude Code reads AGENTS.md
  13. 22 Sept GPT-6 Sol and Luna, the same afternoon
  14. 22 Sept Claude Opus 5.5
  15. 25 Sept Codex outage, then early limit errors
  16. 29 Sept GPT-6.1 Sol, a week after GPT-6 Sol
  17. 29 Sept ChatGPT Pro reopens with less usage
  18. 30 Sept Gemini 4 Argon is announced
  19. 30 Sept Claude Sonnet 4.5 is deprecated
  20. 1 Oct Copilot Business and Enterprise seats are paid up front
  21. 1 Oct gpt-5.3-codex and gpt-5.1 leave the API in April 2027
  22. 1 Oct gpt-5.4-cyber removed from the API
  23. 2 Oct Four models deprecated across Copilot
  24. 5 Oct Reflection announces Beam, an open-weight model
  25. 6 Oct Mistral Large 4, a trillion-parameter model
  26. 7 Oct Local sandboxing for Copilot is generally available
  27. 7 Oct Some organisations wrongly paused at spend limit
  28. 7 Oct Claude Haiku 5.5 in GitHub Copilot
  29. 7 Oct Claude Haiku 5.5 in the API
  30. 8 Oct Gemini, a universal agent for the workplace
  31. 9 Oct Revised usage policy takes effect 12 November
  32. 9 Oct Dynamic workflows for Managed Agents, in beta
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October 202613

  1. Anthropic

    Tools

    Dynamic workflows for Managed Agents, in beta

    An agent can write a program that runs many agents in phases and combines their results, for work like reviewing hundreds of documents.

    Claude Platform release notes

  2. Anthropic

    Access

    Revised usage policy takes effect 12 November

    It bans sustained, needless abuse of Claude and tightens the rules on influence operations. Anthropic says the abuse rule targets only extreme cases.

    The Register

  3. Google

    Tools

    Gemini, a universal agent for the workplace

    Works in Gmail, Docs, Drive and Sheets, generates and runs code, and can start sub-agents that work for days. Availability is not yet stated.

    CBS News

  4. Anthropic

    New model

    Claude Haiku 5.5 in the API

    A 1M-token context window and 128k output. Code written for Haiku 4.5 can return 400 errors on it, so check before switching.

    Claude Platform release notes

  5. Anthropic

    New model

    Claude Haiku 5.5 in GitHub Copilot

    Anthropic’s lightweight model is generally available in Copilot on Pro and up, billed at list price under usage-based billing.

    GitHub Changelog

  6. Anthropic

    Outage

    Some organisations wrongly paused at spend limit

    Requests were refused across the API, Claude.ai, Claude Code and Cowork. The incident is marked resolved.

    Claude Status

  7. GitHub

    Tools

    Local sandboxing for Copilot is generally available

    Commands that Copilot agents start get limited access to files, network and credentials, under policies admins can lock. No extra cost.

    GitHub Changelog

  8. Mistral

    New model

    Mistral Large 4, a trillion-parameter model

    A preview of Mistral’s largest model, reachable through a guardrail endpoint for now. Weights follow about three weeks later, after safety testing.

    TechCrunch

  9. Reflection AI

    Open model

    Reflection announces Beam, an open-weight model

    501 billion parameters, 23 billion active, with a 1M-token window, for coding and agent work. Weights are due later this month; the claims are unverified.

    AI Business

  10. GitHub

    Access

    Four models deprecated across Copilot

    Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Kimi K2.7 Code and Claude Opus 4.7. Replacements named are Gemini 3.8 Flash, Kimi K3 and Claude Opus 5.5.

    GitHub Changelog

  11. OpenAI

    Access

    gpt-5.4-cyber removed from the API

    Removed on the date OpenAI gave in September. Its notice points users to the most capable cyber model available to them.

    OpenAI API deprecations

  12. OpenAI

    Access

    gpt-5.3-codex and gpt-5.1 leave the API in April 2027

    Also gpt-5.4-nano. Removal on 1 April 2027, with six months’ notice. The replacements are GPT-6 models.

    OpenAI API deprecations

  13. GitHub

    Pricing

    Copilot Business and Enterprise seats are paid up front

    For card and PayPal customers, each assigned seat is charged at the start of the cycle and needs payment before access. Invoice billing is not covered.

    GitHub Changelog

September 202613

  1. Anthropic

    Access

    Claude Sonnet 4.5 is deprecated

    It retires from the Claude API on 30 November 2026. Anthropic’s replacement is Sonnet 5.5.

    Claude Platform docs

  2. Google

    New model

    Gemini 4 Argon is announced

    Google’s first Gemini 4 frontier model, built for long-horizon coding. Cyber defenders get it first; paid API access comes later.

    Yahoo Finance

  3. OpenAI

    Pricing

    ChatGPT Pro reopens with less usage

    The $200 plan comes back with roughly half its old allowance, beside a new $500 tier. Existing subscribers keep the old allowance until 29 October.

    Kingy AI

  4. OpenAI

    New model

    GPT-6.1 Sol, a week after GPT-6 Sol

    Near GPT-6 Astra on agentic coding at a fifth of its price, in Codex and the API from DevDay.

    Unite.AI

  5. OpenAI

    Outage

    Codex outage, then early limit errors

    Errors on ChatGPT and Codex ran into the next day, and Pro users hit usage walls without notice. Paid limits were reset early afterwards.

    OpenAI Developer Community

  6. Anthropic

    New model

    Claude Opus 5.5

    A cheaper model for long agent work. Anthropic says it matches Fable 5.1 on most tasks and costs 40% less to run than Opus 5.

    BetaNews

  7. OpenAI

    New model

    GPT-6 Sol and Luna, the same afternoon

    Faster, cheaper models under GPT-6 Astra, in Codex and the API, released hours after Claude Opus 5.5.

    Crowdfund Insider

  8. Anthropic

    Tools

    Claude Code reads AGENTS.md

    Claude Code now reads AGENTS.md in projects that have no CLAUDE.md.

    Enterprise DNA

  9. OpenAI

    Access

    GPT-5.5 leaves ChatGPT and Codex on 14 October

    Retired from ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work and Codex on every plan. The API is not affected, but Codex settings that pin it need to move first.

    BusinessToday

  10. Anthropic

    Limits

    Claude Code’s weekly limits drop about 17%

    A 50% summer boost ended, replaced by a permanent 25% raise over the old baseline. Announced on 30 August.

    Android Headlines

  11. OpenAI

    Access

    New ChatGPT Pro sign-ups are paused

    Demand for GPT-6 Astra outran capacity. People already on Pro kept it; nobody new could join.

    TechCrunch

  12. OpenAI

    New model

    GPT-6 Astra

    OpenAI’s new flagship for long coding and computer-use work: a preview on 3 September, generally available the next day.

    Wikipedia

  13. GitHub

    Pricing

    Copilot Business and Enterprise lose their extra credits

    The promotional credits that came with June’s move to usage-based billing ended; included usage went back to standard amounts.

    The GitHub Blog

August 20266

  1. DeepSeek

    Open model

    DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision weights, under MIT

    A multimodal model in the V4 family, free to download and run.

    Digital Applied

  2. OpenAI

    Access

    OpenAI ends Cursor’s direct model access

    After SpaceX bought Cursor, OpenAI said Cursor’s direct access to its models ends on 12 November, and its upcoming models won’t go there.

    CNBC

  3. Z.ai

    Open model

    GLM-5.3, an open coding model

    Z.ai’s coding model for long engineering work, with open weights following two weeks later.

    MarkTechPost

  4. Cursor

    Access

    SpaceX completes its $60 billion purchase of Cursor

    One of the most used AI editors now belongs to a company with its own models.

    Techzine

  5. Alibaba

    Open model

    Qwen3.8-27B, small enough to run yourself

    Open weights under Apache 2.0, eleven days after the much larger Qwen3.8-Max.

    Emergent

  6. Alibaba

    Open model

    Qwen3.8-Max

    Alibaba’s new flagship: a 2.4-trillion-parameter model with a million-token window.

    DataNorth

We link the reporting; we don’t host it. Missing a shift, or one we got wrong? Tell us on GitHub.