Simon Willison's Weblog ·
A source overview of Willison's observations on LLM developments in 2026, covering coding agent reliability, product-market fit for AI via coding agents, and goal-directed problem solving enabled by clear goals, constraints, and tool access. Read 3 viewpoints with supporting evidence and source links.
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Synthesis
Willison describes models that can solve a clearly defined problem through brute force when they receive unambiguous constraints and the necessary tools.
Original excerpt
These are models where if you can clearly define the goal for what you want to build, and provide unambiguous instructions about the constraints around that goal, and give the model access to the necessary tools to achieve that goal... they will solve your problem effectively through brute force.
Simon Willison · Paragraph 125
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goal-directed AI →Willison says that two newer models, paired with their respective coding-agent tools, improved from often making mistakes to being reliable enough for daily use.
Original excerpt
These two new models, when paired with their respective coding agent harnesses, improved from “often make mistakes” to “reliable enough to use on a day-to-day basis”.
Simon Willison · Paragraph 10
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coding agent reliability →Willison says AI appears to have hit product-market fit in 2026, primarily through coding agents.
Original excerpt
AI appears to have hit product market fit in 2026, primarily through coding agents.
Simon Willison · Paragraph 83
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product-market fit →Attributed passages with the context to verify them. Open the original text to check the source.
Original excerpt
AI appears to have hit product market fit in 2026, primarily through coding agents.
Original excerpt
These two new models, when paired with their respective coding agent harnesses, improved from “often make mistakes” to “reliable enough to use on a day-to-day basis”.
Original excerpt
These are models where if you can clearly define the goal for what you want to build, and provide unambiguous instructions about the constraints around that goal, and give the model access to the necessary tools to achieve that goal... they will solve your problem effectively through brute force.
These viewpoints are linked to their original sources. Paraphrases are labeled and are not verbatim quotes.
Open transcript or source material (opens in a new tab)Report an issueSimon Willison on AI model capability comparison, AI model performance and cost, AI model release. Explore 15 viewpoints by topic, with evidence from 5 sources.
