The Frontier

Ben argues OpenAI's Ultra mode is a token furnace because it forces subagents to use the inefficient Max reasoning level.

Ben says OpenAI's subagent v2 implementation incorrectly copies the entire message history to spawned agents, wasting cache writes and increasing token counts.

Ben claims GPT-5.6 Soul can consume 10-15% of a five-hour usage window in a single prompt without fast mode, up to 40% with fast mode enabled.

Ben and Theo agree Grok 4.5 is the first non-frontier lab model that handles complex, multi-step developer tasks without getting lost, competing with OpenAI and Anthropic.

Theo says Grok 4.5's price makes it a compelling option, noting his X Premium subscription includes $200 monthly credits.

Ben describes Grok Build's CLI as a polished, fast harness clearly inspired by Cursor and Claude Code, benefiting from XAI's engineering discipline.

Theo argues OpenAI's Codex branding was confused, and folding it into the ChatGPT super app with hidden URLs like chatgbt.com/codex hurts discoverability.

Ben says Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI alleges hardware chief Tan Tan downloaded confidential files after poaching 40 Apple employees.

Ben states the OpenAI employee in the Apple lawsuit bragged about retaining access to Apple's shared folders.

Theo argues GPT-5.6 Luna is best for programmatic calls like permission checks or title generation, not as a subagent.

Ben says OpenAI's Terra release has been overshadowed by Soul, making it a forgotten model.

Theo notes Codex desktop now opens the ChatGPT desktop app, and chat history is folded into a popup within the new interface.