AI Timeline — Complete History of 169+ Large Language Models
Hacker News
February 23, 2026
AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary
The rapid evolution of large language models (LLMs) has marked a transformative era in artificial intelligence, beginning with the introduction of Transformers in 2017 and continuing through groundbreaking models like ChatGPT, GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, LLaMA, Mistral, and beyond. This comprehensive timeline not only tracks the development of these powerful AI systems but also highlights their growing influence across industries, from tech to business and society at large.
The journey began with the Transformer architecture in 2017, which revolutionized natural language processing by introducing self-attention mechanisms. Over the next few years, advancements led to models like GPT-3 (2020), known for its scale and capabilities, and ChatGPT (2022), which popularized conversational AI. These milestones set the stage for even more sophisticated developments, including GPT-4 (2023) and Claude (2022), which demonstrated enhanced reasoning and context understanding.
The emergence of newer models like LLaMA in 2023 has further diversified the field, enabling open-source contributions and democratizing access to advanced AI. Meanwhile, projects like Mistral have focused on ethical considerations, aiming to ensure responsible AI development. This continuous innovation underscores the potential of LLMs to reshape industries, automate tasks, and drive creative solutions across sectors.
For tech enthusiasts and professionals, this timeline serves as a roadmap to understanding AI's explosive growth. It also emphasizes the importance of ethical considerations as these models become more powerful and accessible. By tracing the history and future trajectory of LLMs, we gain insights into their profound impact on technology and society, highlighting both opportunities and challenges in harnessing this transformative force.
Verticals
techstartups
Originally published on Hacker News on 2/23/2026