Open-source models synthesize better than Opus, and GPT-5.5 is the worst

TrustedRouter reports that synthesizing multiple research outputs is a distinct capability from conducting research alone, based on DRACO evaluations of models combining reports from a fixed five-model panel. With only the final synthesizer varied, open-weight MiniMax-M3 and GLM-5.2 scored highest at 71.6 and 71.1 out of 100, respectively, ahead of Claude Opus 4.8 at 70.6, while GPT-5.5, despite being the strongest solo researcher at 63.0, scored only 62.2 as a synthesizer. The findings suggest that solo benchmark performance, raw model size, and general intelligence are unreliable predictors of a model’s ability to reconcile conflicting evidence from several sources; smaller Gemma-4-31B scored 54.0, indicating that synthesis may demand greater context capacity. Although GLM-5.2 was identified as the strongest pairing in a broader judge-and-synthesizer evaluation, the report notes its refusals on politically sensitive topics involving Taiwan and Hong Kong, leading TrustedRouter to recommend MiniMax-M3 as a safer default. The authors argue that synthesis should be evaluated and potentially trained as a specialized role, since it determines the final answer delivered in multi-agent research systems.

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