Google Launches Gemini 4 Argon at Half Claude's Price as Two Frontier Models Battle for Dominance

Google has released Gemini 4 Argon, a new frontier AI model that undercuts Anthropic's recently launched Claude Opus 5.5 on pricing by as much as 50 percent during an introductory period, setting up a direct comparison between the two most powerful models released in September 2026. Argon, announced by Google on September 30, arrives just eight days after Opus 5.5's launch on September 22, intensifying competition in the race for the most capable general-purpose AI system.