The common human IQ is 100. Statistical truth – not an insult. For many years, that quantity has quietly outlined what we meant by “regular intelligence.” However in 2025, one thing unusual is occurring. Machines with no consciousness, no feelings, and no lived expertise at the moment are scoring larger than people on the very assessments designed to measure human intelligence. Does that imply AI fashions, particularly the most recent ones like Gemini 3 and GPT-5.2, are smarter than most of us people?
A number of massive language fashions have been examined on IQ-style benchmarks over the previous 12 months. These embrace logic puzzles, summary reasoning assessments, sample recognition duties, and problem-solving challenges. The outcomes are onerous to disregard. Mannequin after mannequin is matching, and in lots of instances surpassing, the efficiency of a median human. Not in a specific process, however throughout a number of dimensions of reasoning that IQ assessments care about.
This text appears at 15+ AI fashions which are smarter than you, at the very least by IQ-style requirements. We’ll break down what “sensible” actually means right here, how these fashions are evaluated, and why this shift issues.
First, let’s work out how…
…Can We Assign IQ to an AI?
Strictly talking, we can not. IQ was designed to measure human intelligence, formed by biology, expertise, and consciousness. An AI doesn’t assume, really feel, or perceive the world the way in which people do. So, assigning it a literal IQ rating could be scientifically incorrect.
However in follow, these comparisons are made a tad bit in a different way.
Principally, as a substitute of asking whether or not an AI has an IQ, researchers examine how an AI mannequin performs on AI-related duties. Think about a system constantly fixing logic puzzles, pattern-recognition duties, and reasoning issues that people with an IQ of 120 or 130 usually remedy. If the AI mannequin does so reliably, it turns into cheap to map its efficiency to an equal IQ vary, proper?
And that’s precisely how we affiliate IQ with an AI mannequin.
This isn’t a psychological analysis. Consider it as a efficiency benchmark. IQ right here acts as a shared language, or a solution to examine how nicely completely different methods cause below managed situations. And by that yardstick, a number of fashionable LLMs are already working nicely above the human common.
Which IQ Checks Consider AI Fashions?
These are basic IQ assessments, or at the very least the net variations of them. The duties inside these challenges measure reasoning, abstraction, and problem-solving relatively than memorisation. These assessments are both straight tailored from human IQ exams or intently mimic the identical cognitive expertise.
For example, one of the vital widespread IQ assessments is Raven’s Progressive Matrices. It is a visible pattern-recognition check that’s lengthy thought of culture-fair. A number of LLMs now remedy these puzzles at or above the extent of high-IQ people. Then there are Mensa-style logic assessments, which embrace sequence completion, image reasoning, and deductive logic. Fashionable AI fashions have proven constantly robust efficiency in these.
Nonetheless, language-heavy sections of IQ assessments are the place LLMs actually shine. Verbal reasoning, analogies, and arithmetic issues, just like WAIS subtests, play on to their strengths. On prime of that, fashionable benchmarks like BIG-Bench Exhausting, ARC-style reasoning duties, and tutorial evaluations comparable to MMLU and Humanity’s Final Examination function sensible stand-ins for IQ testing. Whereas they aren’t labelled as “IQ assessments,” they measure the identical underlying skills. The necessary half – LLMs are more and more outperforming nearly all of people on these assessments.
See for your self.
Prime-rated AI fashions on IQ assessments
For this explicit record, we will focus particularly on the Mensa Norway assessments, and rank the AI fashions as per their rating.
1. GPT-5.2 Professional
Mensa Norway IQ: 147
That is the basis of this whole dialogue of AI fashions and their IQs. Just lately marking its debut, GPT-5.2 Professional has now overwhelmed the all-time IQ rating for LLMs. Its rating – 147. As Derya Unutmaz mentions in his tweet, this sort of intelligence is present in “solely lower than 1 in 1000 folks.”
GPT-5.2 Professional constantly demonstrates this supremacy over people. Particularly so for multi-step logic, summary reasoning, and professional-grade drawback fixing. Whereas it doesn’t essentially imply it’s smarter than people in all features, it does point out a robust shift in the place the higher bounds of test-measured intelligence now sit.
2. GPT-5.2 Pondering
Mensa Norway IQ: 141
Subsequent up is the pondering sibling of the newly launched GPT-5.2. On the Mensa Norway IQ check, GPT-5.2 Pondering scores round 141, inserting it nicely past the human common of 100 and comfortably above the standard Mensa qualification threshold. In human phrases, this rating corresponds to the highest 1–2% of the inhabitants, purely on summary reasoning and sample recognition.
What this consequence really tells us may be very particular. GPT-5.2 Pondering performs exceptionally nicely on duties that require figuring out relationships, recognizing visible or logical patterns, and making use of constant guidelines throughout a number of steps. These are the precise skills IQ assessments are designed to isolate, impartial of language, emotion, or area data.
This mainly signifies that, so far as structured reasoning below managed situations is anxious, GPT-5.2 Pondering operates at a stage most people by no means attain.
3. Gemini 3 Professional Preview
Mensa Norway IQ: 141
Proper alongside GPT-5.2 Pondering sits Gemini 3 Professional Preview, matching its Mensa Norway IQ rating completely. This locations Google’s flagship reasoning mannequin firmly in elite territory, far above the human baseline and nicely previous the brink usually related to excessive mental means.
In sensible phrases, it means Gemini 3 Professional Preview performs reliably on summary reasoning challenges. Such assessments often require rule discovery, sample continuation, and logical elimination. These are issues the place guessing fails rapidly. You’ll be able to solely rating this excessive with structured inference.
This rating thus displays Gemini 3 Professional Preview’s energy in managed reasoning environments.
4. Grok 4 Knowledgeable Mode
Mensa Norway IQ: 137
In fact, you possibly can’t communicate of intelligence and preserve an Elon Musk-backed product out of the record. Shut behind the highest scorers sits Grok 4 Knowledgeable Mode. Whereas barely decrease than the very prime tier, the mannequin is nicely throughout the vary of remarkable human intelligence and comfortably above the common benchmark of 100.
The rating highlights Grok 4 Knowledgeable Mode’s means to deal with logic-driven duties with readability and management. It performs nicely on sample recognition, summary relationships, and elimination-based reasoning – the core parts of IQ-style assessments.
In easy phrases, Grok 4 Knowledgeable Mode demonstrates robust analytical reasoning below check situations. Whereas it might not prime the chart, its efficiency confirms that it operates far past human-average reasoning ranges when evaluated purely on logic and pattern-based intelligence.
5. GPT-5.2 Professional (Imaginative and prescient)
Mensa Norway IQ: 135
Not far behind its text-only counterpart is GPT-5.2 Professional Imaginative and prescient, scoring 135 on the Mensa Norway check. This nonetheless locations it firmly throughout the vary of very excessive human intelligence. That is nicely above each the worldwide common and the standard threshold related to superior reasoning means.
Notice that this rating comes from a vision-enabled mannequin – an AI mannequin that may course of and cause over visible info (like enter photos), and never simply textual content. This implies GPT-5.2 Professional Imaginative and prescient performs strongly on summary reasoning duties even when visible interpretation is required.
Now think about an AI so clever that it scores a 135 on the IQ check, even after deciphering complicated photos and visible patterns. Up till a few years again, we’d’ve thought it to be solely doable in a sci-fi film.
6. GPT-5.2
Mensa Norway IQ: 126
After the Professional and Pondering fashions are completed with, OpenAI’s newest commonplace mannequin takes the stage. However thoughts you, it’s by no means much less with regards to intelligence, particularly so as compared with people. A rating of 126 already locations it above roughly 98% of the human inhabitants, firmly separating it from what we contemplate common human reasoning means.
This rating displays GPT-5.2’s energy in dealing with basic IQ-style duties comparable to sample recognition, logical sequencing, and rule-based drawback fixing. Whereas it doesn’t push into the intense higher ranges like its Professional or Pondering variants, it stays constantly robust throughout structured reasoning challenges.
In sensible phrases, GPT-5.2 represents the purpose the place AI reasoning clearly crosses into elite human territory. It might not prime the charts, however even at this stage, it outperforms the overwhelming majority of individuals on managed intelligence assessments.
7. Kimi K2 Pondering
Mensa Norway IQ: 124
Subsequent up is Kimi K2 Pondering, a mannequin that won’t seize headlines as loudly as some Western counterparts. But, it nonetheless resonates amongst AI lovers globally, and for good cause. A rating of 124 clearly reveals it above the human common, and nicely into the vary related to robust analytical means.
This consequence highlights Kimi K2 Pondering’s functionality on structured reasoning duties. In sensible phrases, Kimi K2 Pondering demonstrates that high-level summary reasoning is now not restricted to a small group of flagship fashions. Even outdoors absolutely the prime scorers, fashionable LLMs at the moment are constantly working above common human intelligence on standardised assessments. Is it a development? Or a truth ready to be established? We will discover out in time.
8. Claude Opus 4.5
Mensa Norway IQ: 124
Matching Kimi K2 Pondering is Claude Opus 4.5, Anthropic’s flagship reasoning mannequin, with a Mensa Norway IQ rating of 124. That’s smarter than the human common, and a agency indicator of robust analytical and problem-solving means.
The rating displays Claude Opus 4.5’s competence on summary reasoning duties that demand consistency and logical management. That means – Claude Opus 4.5 demonstrates that strong, human-above-average reasoning, even outdoors the top-tier LLMs.
9. Gemini 3 Professional Preview (Imaginative and prescient)
Mensa Norway IQ: 123
Only a step beneath its text-only counterpart sits Gemini 3 Professional Preview Imaginative and prescient, with a Mensa Norway IQ rating of 123. This rating is much more notable because it comes from a vision-enabled mannequin. Which suggests Gemini 3 Professional Preview Imaginative and prescient is required to interpret visible patterns and relationships earlier than making use of logic.
In different phrases, the shift from text-only to vision-based inputs doesn’t decrease its reasoning efficiency. Even below tougher-than-usual situations, it continues to carry out at a stage most people don’t attain on standardised intelligence assessments.
10. Claude Sonnet 4.5
Mensa Norway IQ: 123
Sharing the identical Mensa Norway IQ rating of 123 is Claude Sonnet 4.5, Anthropic’s extra balanced reasoning mannequin. Whereas not positioned as essentially the most excessive thinker within the lineup, it comfortably outperforms the human baseline by way of logical reasoning means.
The consequence displays Claude Sonnet 4.5’s regular efficiency on structured problem-solving duties. You could wish to notice that even in a extra environment friendly type, Sonnet 4.5 exceeds the reasoning capabilities of most people.
11. GPT-5.2 Pondering (Imaginative and prescient)
Mensa Norway IQ: 111
Let me be clear right here: an IQ-style check is unforgiving to vision-enabled methods. Earlier than a mannequin can apply cause for an answer, and get a excessive rating, it should first accurately interpret shapes, patterns, and spatial relationships. Basically, that is precisely how we people interpret info. We see, interpret, after which cause. Nonetheless, doing so for AI is a complete different process in itself.
So, by any means, don’t consider GPT-5.2 Pondering Imaginative and prescient’s IQ rating of 111 as commonplace by any means. It mainly signifies that this mannequin is doing one thing tougher: pondering whereas seeing. A single mistake made in interpretation will certainly trickle right down to the answer.
GPT-5.2 Pondering Imaginative and prescient thus doesn’t chase elite summary scores. Nonetheless, it demonstrates one thing a lot, far more necessary: usable intelligence in messy, multimodal environments. And as AI strikes nearer to the true world, that will simply be essentially the most fascinating characteristic in an AI mannequin, if not already.
12. Manus
Mensa Norway IQ: 111
Sitting at an IQ rating of 111 is Manus, a mannequin that proves intelligence doesn’t all the time imply “excessive.” A rating like this already locations Manus above the human common, however extra importantly, it indicators reliable reasoning and consistency.
Which mainly signifies that it might not remedy the toughest puzzles at document velocity, but it surely avoids the sorts of breakdowns that always plague weaker fashions. That is usable intelligence at its greatest.
13. GPT-4o
Mensa Norway IQ: 109
With a Mensa Norway IQ rating of 109, GPT-4o sits simply above the human common. Whereas this may occasionally appear modest in comparison with the fashions larger up the record, it nonetheless marks a transparent departure from what was thought of “succesful” AI not too way back.
This rating displays GPT-4o’s means to deal with fundamental summary reasoning and sample recognition with out falling aside. It might not excel at complicated multi-step puzzles, but it surely performs reliably on easier logic duties. That is precisely what most people, together with myself, want for on a regular basis drawback fixing.
In a means, this represents accessible intelligence. Whereas it’s not constructed to dominate IQ charts, it reveals how AI fashions can barely exceed common human reasoning and be useful with our day by day duties.
14. DeepSeek R1
Mensa Norway IQ: 109
Matching GPT-4o is DeepSeek R1, with a Mensa Norway IQ rating of 109. Like GPT-4o, that is competing reasoning, accessible to people across the globe. All of it, with none sharp drop-offs as seen in much less succesful methods.
In easy phrases, you could contemplate DeepSeek R1 as reliable baseline intelligence. It reveals that even fashions not designed for peak reasoning efficiency can nonetheless meet, and barely exceed, common human reasoning on standardised IQ-style assessments.
15. Llama 4 Maverick
Mensa Norway IQ: 107
With a Mensa Norway IQ rating of 107, Llama 4 Maverick sits barely above the common human baseline. In any case, it depicts a stage of intelligence that’s meaningfully higher than probability or shallow sample matching.
Consider Llama 4 Maverick as an entry-level reasoning competence amongst fashionable LLMs. It reveals that even fashions not designed for superior problem-solving will be of use for people in duties which are past the capabilities of a median human.
16. DeepSeek V3
Mensa Norway IQ: 103
Closing the record is DeepSeek V3, with a Mensa Norway IQ rating of 103. This locations the mannequin simply solely simply above the human common IQ. It additionally signifies that the DeepSeek V3 can deal with elementary sample recognition and easy logical relationships with out main errors.
That is the decrease sure of what fashionable LLMs can now obtain on intelligence benchmarks. Even at this stage, the takeaway is obvious: AI methods have crossed the brink the place common human reasoning is now not the bar to clear – it’s the baseline.
What This Listing Implies
Don’t consider this record as a leaderboard indicating the neatest AI fashions. Whereas it does so in a means, the rating isn’t an absolute illustration of smartness in any means.
Its actual worth lies elsewhere – it makes a powerful level that structured reasoning is now not restricted to people. Throughout fashions, architectures, and organisations, AI methods at the moment are matching, and sometimes exceeding, human efficiency on IQ assessments that have been as soon as thought of troublesome even for educated people.
That mentioned, the context right here will all the time be restricted. This rating doesn’t suggest creativity, consciousness, or human-like understanding. These fashions don’t possess intent, feelings, or self-awareness. They don’t “assume” in the way in which people do. What they show with their respective scores as a substitute is one thing far narrower, but profound. AI can now remedy summary, logic-driven issues simply as nicely, if not higher, than people.
Conclusion
This text isn’t meant to touch upon the intelligence warfare of AI vs people. It merely proves one level – human-level reasoning is now not the ceiling. This record reveals how rapidly massive language fashions have crossed thresholds that after outlined distinctive intelligence, at the very least in test-measured phrases.
On the similar time, these scores remind us what intelligence isn’t. They don’t suggest creativity, consciousness, or understanding. What they do present is that structured reasoning has turn into low-cost, quick, and scalable. And due to that, the true differentiator shifts again to people. We are able to now determine what issues to unravel, as a substitute of find out how to remedy them.
Technical content material strategist and communicator with a decade of expertise in content material creation and distribution throughout nationwide media, Authorities of India, and personal platforms
