Yandex's Alice AI now picks the intelligence level for each request, with free Expert mode
Yandex
Yandex shipped an automatic routing system for Alice AI that estimates per-query compute needs and selects the right model: simple requests go to fast models, while complex multi-step tasks trigger an Expert mode that shows its reasoning, plans actions via the harness, and can analyze several uploaded files. Expert is currently free and unlimited, with the heaviest usage to be reserved for Alice Plus subscribers.
Why it matters
Adaptive model routing mirrors what frontier assistants do globally and shows Yandex competing on orchestration and harness design rather than raw model scale — consistent with its claim of spending 20-30x less on AI than OpenAI or Google.
Importance: 3/5
Major product feature: per-request model routing with free Expert tier