Rumour Corner

The Rumour Corner.

Quarantine, not censorship: the names everyone searches for, with what is actually confirmed (often: nothing), what is claimed and by whom — and why none of it is on the main timeline.

The rules of this corner

Every entry leads with what is confirmed, then what is claimed and by whom.
No dates are rendered as facts here — claims are quoted as claims.
90-day expiry: a rumour with no new sourcing in 90 days is removed, and the removal is logged.
A rumour graduates to the main timeline only on wire or company sourcing — never on another rumour.

Entries below were checked Oct 14, 2026; the 90-day expiry clock runs from each entry’s check date.

DeepSeek R2

DeepSeek · Model

Rumour No confirmed date — claims only No date given

Confirmed: nothing — R2 has never been announced, never released, and has no date. Claimed: circulating spec sheets (parameter counts, benchmark scores) trace to leaks and aggregators quoting each other; Reuters reports founder Liang Wenfeng was dissatisfied with R2's

performance and no timeline was set. What DeepSeek actually ships is the V4 line; a V4.1-Pro is company-confirmed (see the main timeline).

Figures as reported — see sources.

Why this label: Leaks and aggregator claims only; Reuters reporting contradicts the circulating dates.

Sources: DecodeTheFuture — debunk/status · ThePlanetTools — taxonomy of the rumour ecosystem

Checked Oct 14, 2026

Grok 5 leaked spec sheet

xAI (SpaceXAI) · Model

Rumour No confirmed date — claims only No date given

Confirmed: Grok 5 is in training (see the main timeline, status teased). Claimed: a '6 trillion parameter' spec sheet, a '10% chance of AGI' line and a Q1 2026 date — recycled Musk claims and aggregator math that xAI has never confirmed.

The claims live here; the model lives in the timeline.

Figures as reported — see sources.

Why this label: Recycled exec claims and aggregator math; no company-published spec sheet exists.

Sources: TSN — S-1 and statements review

Checked Oct 14, 2026

'Gemini 4 Pro' arena checkpoint

Google DeepMind · Model

Rumour No confirmed date — claims only No date given

Confirmed: the Gemini 4 family expansion is reported (main timeline). Claimed: a specific 'Gemini 4 Pro' SKU name spotted in unofficial arena clips (26 Sep 2026). Google has not confirmed any 'Gemini 4 Pro' — the family is real reporting, the name is rumour.

Figures as reported — see sources.

Why this label: Unofficial arena sightings only; Google has not confirmed the name.

Sources: explainx — Gemini 4 reporting

Checked Oct 14, 2026

'Llama 5'

Meta · Model

Rumour No confirmed date — claims only No date given

Confirmed: nothing under this name. The name is unconfirmed and, on current evidence, unlikely: Llama is Meta's legacy line (last release Apr 2025), its hosted API was retired Jul 2026, and Meta's frontier strategy is now the Muse line.

Any 'Llama 5 release date' page on the internet is working from nothing.

Figures as reported — see sources.

Why this label: No company statement, no filing, no reporting — a name in search of a product.

Sources: Mungomash — Llama/Muse version tracker

Checked Oct 14, 2026

OpenAI 'Dots' / ambient always-on agents

OpenAI · Model

Rumour No confirmed date — claims only No date given

Confirmed: nothing. Claimed: leak-based reporting describes an always-on agent layer codenamed 'Dots'. There is no company statement, no filing and no date — corner-only until OpenAI says something on the record.

Figures as reported — see sources.

Why this label: Leak-based reporting only; no company statement of any kind.

Sources: OpenAI newsroom — where confirmation would appear (nothing there as of 14 Oct 2026)

Checked Oct 14, 2026