Hey Reader,

People keep asking me whether Claude or Codex is better at editing videos.

And the answer... just changed (again).

Editing is mostly writing.

So, here's the thing. AI can't really hear your video.

It relies on a transcript with a time stamped on every single word.

Once that's in place, the AI reads everything you said and makes the edit based purely on what makes sense.

That's how it cuts the uhs and ums, the repeated takes, and even the silences.

It's like editing an script on paper: you cross out the false starts, and the scissors follow your pen.

But what really surprised me, and maybe it'll surprise you too: this is still a hard job for AI.

It also gets harder the longer your video is, because the AI has to juggle the words and the timing at the same time.

Change 1: GPT-6 Astra shows up.

For a long time, Claude Fable 5.1 was the best editor by far.

Then OpenAI released Astra in Codex, and for a moment some people thought it was better.

Personally, I was torn, because both were really good.

So until a few days ago, you could have gone either way.

The problem was the cost.

Astra blew through your subscription very fast, yes, even the $200/month plan.

And Fable 5.1 could only use up to 50% of your Claude subscription.

Change 2: Claude Opus 5.5.

Then Anthropic swooped in with Claude Opus 5.5.

And holy smokes. 🤯

Word from inside OpenAI is that even they were shocked by how good, cheap, and fast it is.

It edits better than Fable 5.1, it's cheaper and faster, and you can finally use 100% of your subscription on it again.

I've tested it a lot over the past few days.

The Attention Machine now uses Opus 5.5 as its default editor, and the results have been wild.

One new (weirdly good) thing I noticed is that Opus is happy to move things around and get creative if it thinks the video gets better.

It does that even though The Attention Machine actually tells it not to.

But this model is much more autonomous and often thinks it "knows better" I suppose?

So which one should you use?

If you're experimenting with AI video editing, or you already have a workflow, switch to Opus 5.5.

And it's not just video editing.

I use it for writing, like this email, and for designing graphics too.

It's honestly unbelievable what we have access to right now.

Did you try it yet? Hit reply and tell me what you think.

Talk next week,
Rob