I · Arrive · 7 min
Lesson 03
A product is the place. A model is the engine.
ChatGPT is not GPT. Grok is not the only Grok model.
A product is the place. A model is the engine. One product can host several engines. One engine can appear in several products.
People say “I used ChatGPT” the way they say “I used Google.” That hides the useful detail. ChatGPT is OpenAI’s product. GPT is a model family inside it. Claude is both a product and a model family. Grok is xAI’s chat product and also the name of its model family. Llama is Meta’s downloadable family; Meta AI is the consumer assistant.
When someone asks which tool to use, ask two questions: which product has the files, connectors, and policy you need — and which model in that product is turned on today.
Lab
Filter by the job, not the logo
GPT models
OpenAI
ChatGPT
A broad first stop for questions, writing, files, images, research, and data work. ChatGPT is the product. GPT is the model family.
Official information
Claude models
Anthropic
Claude
A useful workbench for long documents, careful drafting, analysis, and building software. Claude is both product and model family.
Official information
Gemini models
Google
Gemini + NotebookLM
Gemini fits Google work. NotebookLM is approachable when you want answers tied to a set of sources.
Official information
Grok models
xAI
Grok
A chat product with real-time web and X search, files, voice, connectors, MCP, and building tools. Grok is the app and the model family.
Official information
Llama models
Meta
Meta AI
Meta AI is a consumer assistant. Llama is Meta’s downloadable family, used by many other apps and local runners.
Official information
Several families
Microsoft
Copilot
A practical choice when the work already lives in Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, or Windows. Copilot is a product label.
Official information
Perplexity + others
Perplexity
Perplexity
A search-first interface that makes it easy to open the sources behind an answer. It routes through multiple models.
Official information
DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, Mistral
Several publishers
Local and hosted runners
These families appear in local apps, coding tools, and multi-model services. Not automatically open source — read the model card.
Official information
Check
Someone says “just use Claude.” What information is still missing?
Choose an answer to see why.