Anthropic's New Cheap AI Runs Your Tedious Tasks for 75% Less

Anthropic just released Claude Haiku 5.5, a new AI model available on Amazon Web Services (AWS). It's the fastest and cheapest model in the Claude family, costing about 75% less than the previous version for most tasks. Think of it as a speedy assistant that handles routine work—like scanning documents, answering basic questions, or clicking through repetitive computer tasks—while a smarter (and pricier) model handles the tough thinking. For businesses, this means they can automate more without breaking the bank.

The model is built for high-volume, cost-sensitive jobs. For example, it can act as a "subagent" that routes requests, reviews code, or classifies long documents. It's also good for customer service chatbots that need quick replies, or for pulling key info from small-to-medium documents. It even supports high-resolution images and can control a computer to do repetitive browser tasks. And because it's on AWS, your data stays within your chosen region, and you can use the same security and billing tools you already have.

But there's a catch: Haiku 5.5 isn't as smart as Anthropic's top-tier model, Opus 5.5. It's meant to work alongside it—Opus plans and makes judgment calls, while Haiku carries out well-defined tasks quickly and cheaply. So if you need deep reasoning or complex problem-solving, you'll still want the bigger model. For everyday, repetitive work, though, Haiku 5.5 could be a game-changer for your budget and speed.