Anthropic has introduced Claude Haiku 4.5, a new AI model that offers performance on par with Sonnet 4 but at one-third the cost and twice the speed. Benchmark tests reveal Haiku scores 73% on SWE-Bench and 41% on Terminal-Bench, aligning with the capabilities of Sonnet 4, GPT-5, and Gemini 2.5. This model will become the default for Anthropic's free plan, facilitating efficient AI product deployment. Chief Product Officer Mike Krieger highlighted that Claude Haiku 4.5 excels in fast execution, making it ideal for software development tools where low latency is crucial, while Sonnet remains suited for complex planning tasks. The model's immediate usability is expected to enhance software development efficiency significantly.