Anthropic rolls out a fast mode for Claude Opus 4.6 in research preview, saying it offers the same model quality at 2.5x faster but costs 6x more
excited that we're making it available outside Anthropic too.Dean W. Ball /@deanwball:I would like to know more about the experimental Claude scaffold that caused Opus 4.6 to more than double its performance in optimizing GPU kernels over the standard scaffold [image]@github:We've been testing this all morning and we're loving the speed ⚡️ Copilot Pro+ users now have access to fast mode for Claude Opus 4.6 in research preview. Let us know what you think 👀Dylan Field /@zoink:Opus 4.6 (fast mode)
Simon Willison's Weblog Simon Willison
Related Coverage
- Anthropic adds fast mode to Claude Code to deliver faster coding speeds Moneycontrol · Sarthak Singh
- Speed up responses with fast mode Claude
- Anthropic's Claude Fast Mode Delivers 2.5x Speed at 6x Price WinBuzzer · Markus Kasanmascheff
- Claude Fast Mode for Opus 4.6: How Much Extra Tokens It Uses The Mac Observer · Rajat Saini
- Anthropic's new Claude Fast Mode trades your wallet for speed at a steep 6x markup The Decoder · Matthias Bastian
- Fast mode for Claude Opus 4.6 is now in preview for GitHub Copilot The GitHub Blog
- After talking with ~40 people at Anthropic, a look at its “Yes, and...” culture where every idea is welcomed and judged based on vibes, like a hive mind Steve Yegge
- More than twice the output token speed, same Opus-level intelligence. — I've been using fast mode for Opus 4.6 internally for a while now … Christian Ryan
- Anthropic debuts Claude 4.6 fast mode: 2.5x speed for a 6x price premium Digit · Vyom Ramani
Discussion
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@claudeai
Claude
on x
Our teams have been building with a 2.5x-faster version of Claude Opus 4.6. We're now making it available as an early experiment via Claude Code and our API.
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@photomatt
Matt Mullenweg
on x
@mikeyk Could you slow this down I think I need to sleep sometimes. 😂
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@alexpalcuie
@alexpalcuie
on x
launched opus 4.6 on thursday, shipping fast mode on saturday we called it fast because that's how long it took to ship after the last one
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@udiwertheimer
Udi Wertheimer
on x
i much prefer codex over claude code as a coding agent BUT opus 4.6 is so good for just chatting. way better than the others. smarter, more creative, feel more natural. has really good ideas and analysis
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@edzitron
Ed Zitron
on x
Gotta wonder if the plan isn't for this to eventually be considered the normal speed and also the normal price (6x)
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@cerebras
@cerebras
on x
Fast inference = 6x markup? Don't be giving us any ideas 😼
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@dylan522p
Dylan Patel
on x
Open models show 2.5x faster, 6x more expensive Lower batch size, speculative decoding harder Pareto optimal curve for Deepseek at https://inferencemax.ai/ shows this Claude Opus 4.6 is 100 Tok/s/user Deepseek at 100 is 6k Tok/s/GPU At 250 tok/s/user it's closer to 1k [image]
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@mikeyk
Mike Krieger
on x
I've spent all my time after switching to Labs building with fast Opus and it's a crazy unlock — excited that we're making it available outside Anthropic too.
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@deanwball
Dean W. Ball
on x
I would like to know more about the experimental Claude scaffold that caused Opus 4.6 to more than double its performance in optimizing GPU kernels over the standard scaffold [image]
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@github
@github
on x
We've been testing this all morning and we're loving the speed ⚡️ Copilot Pro+ users now have access to fast mode for Claude Opus 4.6 in research preview. Let us know what you think 👀
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@zoink
Dylan Field
on x
Opus 4.6 (fast mode) is... really fast! I was very impressed by the speed and quality. Reply to the Figma post below with something awesome you've created in Figma Make and we'll DM you for special access this weekend!
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@claudeai
Claude
on x
@cursor_ai ... We plan to expand API access to more customers. You can join the waitlist here: https://claude.com/...
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@alexalbert__
Alex Albert
on x
This has one been one of my biggest productivity boosts of the past year. Highly recommend trying this out, in some ways it feels just as impactful as a model intelligence upgrade.
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@adocomplete
Ado
on x
Calling all builders! Opus 4.6 is here. We want to see what you can create with it. → $100k prize pool → $500 in API credits to build → Hack Feb 10 - Feb 16, party in SF to celebrate Feb 21 I'm honored to be one of the judges and can't wait to see what you'll build. [video]
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@yuchenj_uw
Yuchen Jin
on x
2.5x faster but 6x more expensive. This can't be achieved by inference optimization, must be new chips. TPU? B200? AWS Inferentia? Cerebras?
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@cursor_ai
@cursor_ai
on x
It's priced at $30 input / $150 output tokens. For the next 10 days, it's available for 50% off.
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@claudeai
Claude
on x
Fast mode is available now for Claude Code users with extra usage enabled (use /fast). It's also available in research preview on @cursor_ai, @emergentlabs, @FactoryAI, @figma, @github Copilot, @Lovable, @v0, and @windsurf.
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@zephyr_z9
@zephyr_z9
on x
2.5x speedup and 6x price increase Small batch size Total throughput of the system takes a giant hit on increasing tokens/user/sec
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@cursor_ai
@cursor_ai
on x
Opus 4.6 (fast mode) is now available in Cursor! It's 2.5x as fast in research preview.
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@github
@github
on x
🏎️ Fast mode for @AnthropicAI's Claude Opus 4.6 is rolling out in research preview on GitHub Copilot. Get 2.5x faster token speeds with the same frontier intelligence—now at promotional price of 9 premium requests through Feb 16. This release is early and experimental. Try it
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@lovable
@lovable
on x
Lovable now supports Claude Opus 4.6 with fast mode (research preview) for select tasks. 2.5x faster code generation with the same Opus-level intelligence.
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@_catwu
Cat
on x
We granted all current Claude Pro and Max users $50 in free extra usage. This credit can be used on fast mode for Opus 4.6 in Claude Code. To use, claim the credit and toggle on extra usage on https://claude.ai/.... Then, run ‘claude update && claude’ and ‘/fast’. Enjoy!
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@windsurf
@windsurf
on x
Opus 4.6 (fast mode) is now available in Windsurf in research preview! It's just as smart as regular Opus 4.6 but runs up to 2.5x faster. Users will have access to promo pricing until Feb 16. Let us know what you think. [image]
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@deanwball
Dean W. Ball
on x
This is true of the Claude app as well. All other aspects of my machine function normally; Claude Code is a resource hog but not machine-stoppingly so. there is something wrong with these GUI apps and it seems not insane to wonder if the vibe-coding helps explain it.
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@bcherny
Boris Cherny
on x
We just launched an experimental new fast mode for Opus 4.6. The team has been building with it for the last few weeks. It's been a huge unlock for me personally, especially when going back and forth with Claude on a tricky problem.
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@jeffwsurf
Jeff Wang
on x
Opus 4.6 Fast is the fastest SOTA model we've tried in Windsurf yet. It's able to reason to reason through complex problems at the same level as Opus 4.6 while achieving up to 2.5x faster output token speeds
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@bcherny
Boris Cherny
on x
Use /fast to enable. It uses a lot more compute than Opus 4.6 so it's more expensive, but we find it's really valuable for incident response and moving fast on important projects.
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@figma
@figma
on x
Anthropic's research preview for Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast mode) is here, and it's in Figma Make for a limited time (for free and 2.5x the speed) Show us what you've made in Make and we'll DM you for special access through the weekend [image]
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@stroughtonsmith …
Steve Troughton-Smith
on mastodon
It didn't take 20 years, it took less than 3 🤡 [Quotes his post from 2023: “As a software developer, I think GPT-3 & friends and beyond is the real next-gen step-change in software development, not SwiftUI. In 10, 20 years, I could see a future where that's how all programming i…
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@stroughtonsmith …
Steve Troughton-Smith
on mastodon
I thought Xcode developers like me were some of the very last to come to the realization that Claude and co had already taken over the industry, but nope, there are plenty of FOSS developers and adjacents right here living under a rock too 😅 — This switch has already happened, …
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r/ClaudeAI
r
on reddit
Opus 4.6: Fast-Mode