Maybe AI agents can be lawyers after all

AI Agents Take a Giant Leap Forward: Anthropic’s Opus 4.6 Shatters Benchmarks, But Lawyers Can (Still) Breathe Easy

Just weeks after a sobering benchmark revealed AI agents struggling to crack even 25% on professional tasks like legal analysis and corporate strategy, the landscape has shifted dramatically. Anthropic’s latest release, Opus 4.6, has sent shockwaves through the tech world, rocketing to nearly 30% in one-shot trials and an average of 45% when given multiple attempts. The implications? AI’s march toward workplace dominance is accelerating faster than anyone predicted.

The benchmark in question, Mercor’s APEX-Agents leaderboard, is no slouch. It’s designed to test AI agents on real-world, multistep professional tasks—think drafting legal briefs, analyzing financial reports, or strategizing corporate mergers. When we last checked in, the results were grim: every major AI lab, from OpenAI to Google DeepMind, was stuck below the 25% mark. The verdict? Lawyers, analysts, and other white-collar professionals could rest easy—AI wasn’t coming for their jobs anytime soon.

But then came Opus 4.6.

Anthropic’s new model didn’t just nudge the needle—it smashed it. Scoring just shy of 30% in single-attempt trials and averaging a staggering 45% with retries, Opus 4.6 has leapfrogged the competition. What’s more, the release introduced groundbreaking agentic features, including “agent swarms,” which allow multiple AI agents to collaborate on complex problems. This could explain the dramatic improvement in multistep task-solving, a critical skill for professional environments.

Brendan Foody, CEO of Mercor, was quick to highlight the significance of the jump. “Moving from 18.4% to 29.8% in just a few months is insane,” he said. And he’s not wrong. In the fast-moving world of AI, such leaps are rare—and they’re a clear signal that the pace of innovation isn’t slowing down.

But before you start updating your resume, let’s pump the brakes. At 30%, AI agents are still a long way from matching human expertise. A human lawyer, for instance, might score 90% or higher on the same tasks. So, while Opus 4.6 is a monumental step forward, it’s not time to panic—yet.

That said, the writing is on the wall. AI’s trajectory is unmistakable: it’s getting smarter, faster, and more capable by the day. The lawyers who were feeling smug last month? They might want to reconsider their confidence. The machines are coming, and they’re learning quickly.

What makes this development particularly fascinating is the introduction of agent swarms. This feature allows multiple AI agents to work together, pooling their strengths to tackle complex, multistep problems. It’s a bit like having a team of junior analysts collaborating on a project, except these “analysts” can process information at lightning speed and never need a coffee break. If this is the future of AI, it’s one where collaboration—not just raw intelligence—will be key.

The broader implications are profound. As AI agents become more adept at professional tasks, industries from law to finance to healthcare will need to adapt. The question isn’t whether AI will disrupt these fields—it’s how quickly and to what extent. For now, the human touch remains irreplaceable, but the gap is closing fast.

So, what’s next? If history is any guide, we can expect even more dramatic improvements in the coming months. AI labs are in a race to outdo each other, and with breakthroughs like Opus 4.6, the competition is fiercer than ever. One thing is certain: the future of work is being rewritten, and AI is holding the pen.

For now, lawyers and other professionals can breathe a sigh of relief. But they’d be wise to keep one eye on the horizon. The machines are learning, and they’re not slowing down.

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