Anthropic launches Claude Fable 5.1: models up to 45% cheaper for agentic tasks

Anthropic has announced the launch of two new models in the Claude family, named Fable 5.1 and Mythos 5.1, which bring significant cost improvements for developers using AI in complex agentic tasks. According to The Verge, these models directly address criticism from customers in recent months regarding pricing, data retention policies, and safety mechanisms considered overly restrictive.

Lower costs for complex tasks

According to information reported by The Verge, Anthropic claims that the new Claude Fable 5.1 model outperforms its predecessor, Fable 5, while also delivering substantial savings. Usage costs typically drop by around 25%, but for complex agentic tasks — operations in which the AI acts autonomously to complete multi-step objectives — the reduction can reach up to 45%.

This price drop is possible, according to the cited source, thanks to a more favorable pricing policy for cached data — information that has already been processed by the system previously and no longer requires additional computational resources when reused.

A response to customer complaints

The launch of the two models appears to be a direct response to feedback from business users of the Claude platform. Beyond the financial aspect, Anthropic acknowledged receiving criticism about how customer data is handled, as well as concerns that some safety measures in previous models were considered excessively cautious, blocking legitimate user requests.

The context of AI market competition

The announcement comes at a time when competition among major AI companies — OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and others — is intensifying not only in terms of technical capabilities but also operational costs. Lowering prices for agentic tasks, where AI performs complex actions without constant human oversight, is becoming an important differentiating factor for companies looking to attract developers and enterprise clients.

For now, Anthropic has not specified an exact date for the global rollout of these models or any future plans to update the Claude family.