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Xiaomi's MiMo-V2.6 Is Now the #1 Open-Weight AI Model in the World

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The most interesting AI lab in the world right now might be a phone company. Xiaomi's MiMo team has released MiMo-V2.6 — two open-weight models, Pro and Flash — and the flagship MiMo-V2.6-Pro has just debuted at the top of Artificial Analysis's Intelligence Index with a score of 46, ahead of every other open model on the planet, including DeepSeek's best. MiMo-V2.6-Pro is a sparse mixture-of-experts model with 1.02 trillion total parameters (42 billion active per token). The smaller Flash variant carries 309 billion total parameters with 15 billion active. Both are natively multimodal — text, image, video, and audio — with a one-million-token context window. The headline grabber is the price tag. Xiaomi says the reinforcement-learning run behind Pro took under six days and cost about $2.62 million. Flash cost roughly $850,000. Not long ago, frontier training runs were talked about in hundreds of millions of dollars; Xiaomi did this one for the price of a nice house. And und...

Top 5 Best AI Music Generation Tools in 2026

Concept illustration of AI music generation with glowing instruments

Confession: I can't play a single instrument. But last month I "released" a lo-fi track made entirely with AI, and my friends couldn't believe it wasn't from Spotify. AI music tools have gotten scary good — full songs with vocals, in any genre, from a text prompt.

Here are the 5 best AI music generators in 2026, tested by a certified non-musician (me).

Suno logo

1. Suno

Best for: Full songs with vocals — the overall winner

Suno is pure magic. I typed "upbeat indie rock song about Monday mornings" and got back a complete track — verses, chorus, vocals, the works. The vocal quality genuinely shocked me. It's the easiest way for anyone to create real songs, and the free tier lets you make songs every day. This is the one I recommend to everyone.

Price: Free tier (daily songs); premium from ~$10/month.

Try Suno →

Udio logo

2. Udio

Best for: High-fidelity sound + producer-level control

If Suno is the fun one, Udio is the serious one. The audio quality is noticeably richer, and you get more control — editing sections, remixing, downloading stems for your DAW. A producer friend told me he uses Udio for sketching ideas before studio sessions. For audiophiles and creators who want polish, this edges ahead.

Price: Free tier (~100 tracks/month); paid from $10/month.

Try Udio →

AIVA logo

3. AIVA

Best for: Cinematic, classical & orchestral music

Need background music that sounds like a film score? AIVA is the specialist. It composes instrumental and orchestral pieces that work beautifully for videos, games, and presentations. I used it for a short film project and the emotional depth was impressive. Plus, Pro plans give you full copyright ownership — important for commercial work.

Price: Free tier; Pro from ~$11/month.

Try AIVA →

Soundraw logo

4. Soundraw

Best for: YouTubers & video creators needing background music

Here's a problem every YouTuber knows: finding background music that won't get you copyright-struck. Soundraw solves it — pick a mood, genre, and length, and it generates royalty-free tracks you can customize. I made intro music for a video in 5 minutes. If you create content, this pays for itself.

Price: Free to generate; paid from ~$17/month for downloads.

Try Soundraw →

Boomy logo

5. Boomy

Best for: Absolute beginners — make a song in 30 seconds

Boomy is the simplest tool on this list — pick a style, tap a button, done. It won't win audiophile awards, but for someone who's never made music, hearing your first AI song in 30 seconds is pure joy. It even helps you distribute to Spotify. Perfect first step into AI music.

Price: Free to start; paid from $10/month.

Try Boomy →

My honest take

Want full songs with vocals right now? Suno — it's not even close for ease and fun. Want studio-quality control? Udio. Making videos? Soundraw or AIVA for cinematic vibes. Total beginner? Boomy in 30 seconds flat.

Go make some music — and send me the link when you do.

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