American AI startup Poolside launches free, high-performing open model Laguna XS.2 for local agentic coding

The AI race lately has felt a bit like a game of tennis: first, Anthropic releases a new, pricey state-of-the-art proprietary model for general users ( Claude Opus 4.7 ), then, a week or so later, its rival OpenAI volleys back with one of its own ( GPT-5.5) . And all the while, Chinese companies like DeepSeek and even Xiaomi are seeking to appeal to users by playing a different game: nearing the frontier, but with open licensing and far lower costs. So it's a big surprise when a new, afford