Epoch AI 2025 impact report | Epoch AI

Epoch AI 2025 impact report | Epoch AI 

 
 
 
 

 

 
 

 
 In 2025, we saw AI continue to increase in scale and importance. AI companies reached annual revenues totalling tens of billions of dollars , and are building data centers that individually cost comparable amounts . Leading benchmarks show capabilities accelerating , propped up by the establishment of reasoning models, such as OpenAI’s oN model series. And we have seen an incredible diffusion of capabilities, with Chinese open weight models such as DeepSeek R1 closing in the gap with US frontier models released only months before.

 Epoch AI has responded with new and expanded initiatives to advance its mission of sharing up-to-date information about – and making sense of – the trajectory of AI. We are excited to share a recap of our work in 2025, and our plans for 2026.

 We are raising $3 million to execute a more ambitious version of our plans. Donations can be made directly through our website . For those considering a substantial contribution, or commissioning a project, please contact us at [email protected] .

 Highlights from 2025

 AI data centers & compute clusters

 AI infrastructure became a major focus of investment and public attention in 2025. We pursued two related initiatives, starting with the creation of the GPU Clusters Data Explorer (originally called AI Supercomputers), followed by the ongoing build-out of the Frontier Data Centers Data Explorer , using satellite and permit data to track compute, power use, and construction timelines.

 Why this matters : AI compute has long been an important input to AI capabilities. It is essential not only to enable large scale training , but also to conduct the experiments that lead to further progress. Tracking the construction of large data centers provides early, concrete signals about how quickly AI development capacity is expanding—and where it may run into limits.

 The Benchmarking Hub & the Epoch Capabilities Index (ECI)

 Early in 2025, we launched a revamped version of our Benchmarking hub . Its landing page was our most visited page in 2025. Focused on top AI models, this page gathers evaluations reported by developers and third parties, as well as those run by Epoch.

 As individual benchmarks saturate, it has become harder to compare frontier models using any single score. To address this, we introduced the Epoch Capabilities Index (ECI) in October, a composite metric that aggregates performance across multiple benchmarks to provide a more stable measure of model capability. The ECI combines at least four benchmark scores per model, drawing from over three dozen benchmarks in total, and performs well as a predictor of benchmark performance . This approach was developed as part of the “ Rosetta Stone ” collaboration with researchers from Google DeepMind.

 Why this matters : Benchmark evaluations are one of the most straightforward – yet also ephemeral – ways to measure improvements in AI capabilities. Our Capa

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